Guidance

Review of Civil Legal Aid

The Review of Civil Legal Aid will explore options for improving the long-term sustainability of the civil legal aid system.

Applies to England and Wales

ParticipatingAbout in research for the Review

Provider

The Survey

Ministry of Justice is undertaking a Review of Civil Legal Aid.

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  1. Economic exploresanalysis of the structure of the civil legal aid providers’market. experiencesThis workstream is assessing how the market is currently functioning and identifying the root causes of its problems. It works to form an assessment of the sector.market Yourbased responseson willdemand helptrends shapein the civil legal aid policysystem, development. 

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  2. Comparative theanalysis website.of Thesystems surveyin closesother oncountries. 17This Octoberworkstream 2023.

    Interviews

    Weis areconducting recruitinga comparative analysis of civil legal aid clientssystems in six countries (Australia, Canada, Finland, The Netherlands, Scotland and peopleThe whoUSA). helpThe signpostgoal themis to legalidentify aidpromising providersapproaches to participateimprove inthe interviewsefficiency forand theeffectiveness Review.of Ifdelivering youcivil arelegal interestedaid inand participatingaccess into thisjustice researchin orEngland helpingand toWales. recruitThis participants,workstream pleasehas contactbeen rocla@justice.gov.uk.

    Aboutconducted by the Review

    TheOpen MinistryInnovation Team (an in-Government consultancy service).

  3. A series of Justicedata ispublications. undertakingThese will be a Reviewseries of Civildocuments Legalsummarising Aid.

    Thekey Reviewdescriptive isinformation consideringabout the provision of civil legal aid systemservices, inwith itsa entirety,focus fromon howchanges servicesover aretime. procured,Starting howwith wellan overview of the currentmarket systembased workson fordata userssharing andagreements providers,with The Law Society and howBar civilCouncil, legalsubsequent aidreports impactswill theprovide widerdeep justicedives system.

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    1. EconomicSocial analysisresearch of theuser structurejourneys. ofThis theworkstream comprises qualitative research with people who have previously accessed civil legal aid, those who support legal aid market
    2. Comparativeusers, analysisand legal aid practitioners. Through these different perspectives, the research aims to explore users’ experiences of systemscivil inlegal otheraid, countries
    3. to identify issues from a user perspective, and to provide an evidence base for policy development. A seriesreview of dataexisting publications
    4. Socialliterature researchon ofthe user journeysexperience is also being undertaken.

    The Review of Civil Legal Aid will publish reports for all workstreams, releasing evidence papers on this website ahead of the project’sconclusion of RoCLA’s evidence building phase.

    Policy development is taking place alongside the research workstreams, consolidating the four analytical workstreams and ensuring they fit with RoCLA’s overarching objectives and support the MoJ’s strategic vision for the future of the Civil, Family and Tribunal justice system. Policy development will continue after the conclusion onof 31the MarchReview’s 2024.evidence building phase. We will then hold a public consultation. 

    OnceThroughout complete,the process, the governmentMoJ canwill considerengage optionswith fromstakeholders to ensure that all findings are relevant and based on a thorough understanding of the issues affecting the civil legal aid system, and to test policy thinking.  

    The Review will enable the government to develop options for shaping a more effective, efficient, and sustainable system for legal aid providers and the people who rely on legal aid.

    Call for evidence

    The Review of Civil Legal Aid has launched a call for evidence, opening on 10 January 2024 and closing on 21 February 2024. We are inviting interested parties at the heart of the civil legal aid system to submit evidence that will inform the Review, strengthening its evidence base and feeding into the development of short and long-term policy solutions.

    Latest from the Review 

    The Review of Civil Legal Aid: Provider Survey Report produced by PA Consulting was published on 19 January.

    Terms of Reference

    Further information on the purpose, outcomes and scope of the Review as a whole can be found in the Overarching Terms of Reference for the Review of Civil Legal Aid (PDF, 125 KB, 6 pages).

    Information on the Economic Analysis can be found in the Terms of Reference for an Economic Analysis of Civil Legal Aid (PDF, 114 KB, 5 pages).

Published 30 January 2023
Last updated 324 OctoberJanuary 20232024 + show all updates
  1. About the review section updated and latest from the review section added.

  2. Interviews section added.

  3. Provider survey launched.

  4. Overarching Terms of Reference published.