§ Lord Lester of Herne Hillasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the Lord Chancellor will amend the guidance given to the Legal Services Commission, under Section 23 of the Access to Justice Act 1999, so as to prescribe the criteria to be used by the commission in order to comply with the positive obligations imposed by Article 6(1) of the European Convention on Human Rights. [HL113]
§ The Lord Chancellor (Lord Irvine of Lairg)I am confident that the scope of the Community Legal Service and the criteria used to decide funding applications in ordinary cases are compliant with the ECHR and need no amendment. However, in the light of the recent High Court judgment in the case ofR -v- Legal Services Commission and Lord Chancellor's Department ex parte Jarrett, I intend to amend the criteria used to decide exceptional applications for funding in cases that are outside the scope of the scheme. The Legal Services Commission will shortly publish a new draft for consultation and it will take effect as soon as possible after that. Meanwhile, the commission will use the criteria in the consultation draft in deciding whether to refer applications to me under s.6(8)(b) of the Access to Justice Act 1999.