Title: Fairness and the right to legal aid in asylum and asylum related cases

Authors: Emma Jane Borland

Addresses: School of Law and Politics, Cardiff University, Museum Avenue, Cardiff CF10 3AX, UK

Abstract: There is growing evidence that incremental restrictions on the provision of civil legal aid for immigration and asylum matters in the UK, over the past decade, has culminated in an unfair system that denies a number of asylum seekers and refugees effective and fair access to justice. In particular, the barrier to access to justice created by the removal of legal aid for refugee family reunion cases is highlighted. This paper explores the extent to which procedural protections under the European Convention on Human Rights, namely, Articles 6 and 8, and under EU law, require the provision of legal aid in asylum and refugee cases.

Keywords: procedural fairness; access to justice; legal representation; asylum seekers; refugees; family reunion; Article 8; Article 6; European Convention on Human Rights; ECHR; LASPO; Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012; exceptional case funding; ECF; United Kingdom; UK; right to legal aid.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMBS.2016.077643

International Journal of Migration and Border Studies, 2016 Vol.2 No.3, pp.245 - 273

Received: 16 Apr 2015
Accepted: 22 Oct 2015

Published online: 11 Jul 2016 *

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