Thousands of victims of domestic violence are still being denied access to justice eight months after the government promised to make it easier for them to obtain legal aid, Labour has said.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said in February that it would scrap a requirement for victims of domestic violence to produce evidence that they have been abused within the last five years.

It also promised to widen the pool of officials who could provide the evidence from doctors, courts, police and social services to other sources such as solicitors, housing officers and women’s charities.

However, ministers have not yet brought forward secondary legislation to change the requirements.



Gloria De Piero, the shadow justice minister, said it was unacceptable that vulnerable people were still waiting for the change to be made.

“We welcomed the government’s announcement in February that it would reform evidence requirements for victims of domestic violence, a process that should be done in close cooperation with domestic violence and women’s charities as well as legal aid providers. However, it should not take eight months to put this right,” she said in a letter to David Lidington, the justice secretary.

“Every month the government drags its feet on implementing these reforms, victims of domestic violence are being denied access to justice in matters as important as securing the safety of themselves and their children. I ask that you now urgently implement the reforms promised and ensure domestic violence victims have swift and simple access to legal aid support.”

De Piero said MoJ figures showed that the number of applications for civil legal aid for domestic violence cases had fallen by 20% in five years, from 17,652 in 2012 to 14,152 in 2017.

An MoJ spokeswoman said: “Maintaining access to justice remains vital and continues to be at the heart of our reforms. We are focusing legal aid resources on those who most need help, which is why we are making wider changes which will make it easier for domestic violence victims to qualify for the financial support they need to pay for legal representation.”

When the changes were announced by Liz Truss, then justice secretary, charities welcomed the removal of the five-year limit and the admission of fresh categories of evidence, saying it would help large numbers of women and also some men who had previously been deprived of legal advice and representation in often embittered family court disputes over custody and contact with children.

Organisations such as the Rights of Women and the Legal Aid Practitioners Group have campaigned against the restrictions and estimated that 40% of female survivors of domestic violence are unable to meet legal aid evidence requirements.

Restrictions on access to lawyers were initially introduced as a cost-saving measure in 2012 by the then justice secretary, Chris Grayling, under the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act.