Access to Justice and Legal Aid for Separated Children in the UK

Legal aid is vital to ensure that those who cannot afford to pay for a lawyer are able to access to justice. Prior to April 2013 , legal aid was generally available to separated migrant children for all immigration applications that they may need to make , e.g. for cases which raised either asylum or Article 8 ECHR/EEA grounds , or a mixture.

Now , with a few exceptions , it is available only for protection claims. It is of concern that the removal of non-asylum cases from the ‘scope’ of legal aid has resulted in many more children being unable to access advice and representation , with the consequence that they are being denied access to justice and their Convention and/or EU rights breached.

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