Courts in Newcastle, Devon and Cambridge are struggling to appoint lawyers to conduct cross-examination in cases involving allegations of domestic abuse, a solicitor has told the House of Lords.

The Domestic Abuse Act 2021 prohibits alleged perpetrators from cross-examining the accuser, with the court appointing a qualified legal representative to question the accuser on behalf of the accused.

However, solicitor Elspeth Thomson, a member of family law group Resolution’s national committee, told the Lords Domestic Abuse Act 2021 committee that the scheme’s coverage was ‘extremely patchy’ across the country. ‘Where I practise, in Newcastle, it’s a QLR desert, we just don’t have them, and judges are still asking questions. I’m told that’s the same in Devon, the same in Cambridge – that there just aren’t people doing this role.’

Thomson highlighted analysis carried out by barrister Lucy Reed KC of 35 published judgments containing the keyword ‘QLR’. Writing on her ‘Pink Tape’ blog, Reed said she found 12 cases where a QLR was directed but not available or present and 10 cases where the judge asked questions. 

Thomson felt the scheme was a ‘sticking plaster’ for issues caused by the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act, which restricted the availability of legal aid. ‘It wasn’t a problem that existed to the same extent prior to LASPO,’ she said.

In 2024, the government raised fees for lawyers belonging to the qualified legal representative scheme by 10%, but the Law Society warned that the uplift was potentially not enough to make the scheme sustainable.