Judge issues pre-trial legal aid plea after mother left alone

A judge has called for the scope of legal aid to be widened in family proceedings after a vulnerable mother trying to get her child back had to read important evidence in the witness box.

In London Borough of Sutton and A Mother and Rosie (by her Children’s Guardian), District Judge Keating decided Rosie (not the child's real name) should continue to live with her aunt and uncle, and be made subject to a care order. However, the judge noted that the mother did not have the benefit of a conference with counsel to prepare for a four-day contested final hearing.

The judge was told the mother’s lawyers asked the Legal Aid Agency to pay for three conferences. Two took place at court early in the proceedings and a third took place when the local authority changed its care plan. A further conference could not be arranged without prior authority from the LAA, but this was not sought. The mother had to be given time in the witness box to read letters from her family members that were in the judge’s bundle.

Keating said: ‘That must have been hard for her. She did not ask for a break at those times, and nor did her barrister or intermediary, and I was watching carefully for a clue that she might need one. I am worried that the absence of a conference with her advocate has not helped [the mother] prepare for the trial as well as she might have done.

‘To the extent that it assists lawyers, I believe that a parent who is contesting a care order application and seeking the return of a child to their care at a multi-day hearing normally should be afforded the opportunity to meet in conference with their trial advocate after the evidence is complete and before the trial begins. I hope that the Legal Aid Agency would be willing to consider applications for authority for such a conference. Where a parent is a vulnerable witness, that has all the more force, in my view.’

The Ministry of Justice told the Gazette the family advocacy fee scheme allows for two conferences with counsel and it is for the legal aid provider to request another conference. In cases with costs over £25,000, providers can submit a request to the LAA.