“Lost time… and stolen dignity” - Access to quality, free legal representation
For survivors of torture, trafficking and other extreme human cruelty, legal advice and representation is vital in ensuring that they can navigate complicated immigration and asylum systems and gather and put forward the necessary evidence to support their case, including medical evidence. The outcomes of immigration and asylum applications are often dependent on the quality and knowledge of legal representatives and services who advocate for survivors.
‘Legal aid’ is a system of public funding designed to help people who cannot afford legal services with the costs of legal advice and representation. Properly funded, early access to legal immigration and asylum advice can ensure that issues are addressed as early as possible - sometimes without the need to access the appeals or judicial review systems. If someone has poor representation or no representation early on, issues can emerge in their case which are very hard to address later, elongating their dependency on legal aid.
Good quality, free legal advice at an early stage not only saves money, time and valuable resources but is also much better for the health and well-being of the individual. Where survivors have not received legal advice at the outset of their claim for asylum or trafficking and/or their cases are not front-loaded with relevant evidence (such as a medical report or country expert report) before a decision is made, these cases can end up taking much longer to conclude.
But now over 57% of people claiming asylum or appealing an asylum refusal before the First-Tier Tribunal are unable to access a legal aid representative. Without access to legal aid lawyers, people seeking protection may resort to paying private lawyers and may get into high levels of debt. The lack of choice of providers enables poorer-quality work because people have nowhere else to turn.
The Ambassadors for Change are a group of survivors with experience of the UK asylum system who campaign to ensure London is welcoming and fair for other people seeking safety. This briefing provides an overview of the difficulties that people seeking asylum and survivors of trafficking face when trying to access free, quality legal advice and representation, and shares lived experience testimonies. The final section of the document outlines recommendations from the Ambassadors that would help enable those seeking protection to access the legal support they need.