Filling the gaps left by the Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012: The role of charities in cases of domestic violence

妇女援助组织的年度报告显示，家庭暴力(DV)慈善机构为英格兰和威尔士的女性提供了多方面的角色。他们对受害者的第一线角色意味着这些慈善机构对其客户的主观体验拥有专门、敏感和适当的知识。在紧缩削减基本服务的背景下，DV慈善机构报告了他们的工作量越来越复杂，以及服务用户报告的问题。对服务的最大削减之一是根据2012年《法律援助量刑和惩罚法》(LASPO)缩小了获得法律代表的经济资格标准。在法律援助削减后，关于家庭暴力受害者和幸存者不成比例的经历的研究已经得到了广泛的研究，然而，很少有人关注这在多大程度上导致了慈善机构案件数量的增加。本博士将调查LASPO在多大程度上塑造了家庭暴力慈善机构提供的服务。将特别提请注意在没有法律援助帮助的情况下提出的不骚扰令申请的增加。由于获得法律代理的机会有限，DV受害者的唯一选择之一是获得行为民事秩序以保护自己。尽管有人担心法律援助的变化将导致已批出订单的减少，但自2013年以来，特别是无抵押贷款一直呈上升趋势。这可以用一个事实来解释，那就是NMOS可以在没有律师帮助的情况下申请。如果没有法律援助，可以选择不受法律援助，因为申请人可以保护自己免受与犯罪者的任何互动。这方面的一个说明性案例是R(应G.R.的申请)V法律援助署署长及大法官[2020]如申索人在家庭住所的共同权益超过通过法律援助资格的“经济状况”审查的最低要求。据报告，索赔人的银行账户中有28 GB，无法获得犯罪者的同意，以财产为抵押借钱支付法律费用。这一案例并不少见或独特，它表明家庭暴力受害者获得民事代理的选择可以受到限制。虽然GR无法通过法律援助获得法律代表，但她在IDVA和家庭暴力慈善机构妇女权利雇用的一名专家律师的协助下获得了NMO，以提供晚些时候的证人证词。这让我们洞察到，在法律援助的帮助下批准的NMOS和那些没有法律援助的NMOS之间的分歧越来越大。此外，这显示了当主流服务失败时，家庭暴力服务所提供的专业和基本支持的团队和社区。因此，重要的是进一步调查LASPO对填补法律援助削减留下的空白的慈善机构的影响程度。本博士将使用半结构化访谈方式调查独立家庭暴力倡导者(IDVA)和针对妇女的暴力行为协调员(VAWG-Cs)支持妇女获得NMOS的方式，以及DV慈善机构是否由于LASPO而发挥任何其他法律角色。除了半结构化采访外，我还将与家庭暴力慈善机构的客户进行焦点小组讨论，以了解在无法获得法律援助的情况下，人们如何看待该慈善机构的角色。由于这是一个关于LASPO影响的研究不足的领域，丰富、详细和意想不到的服务提供商和服务用户体验的描述将是这项研究的核心。

Annual reports from Women's Aid have shown the multifaceted roles that domestic violence (DV) charities provide for women across England and Wales. Their front-line role with victims means that these charities have specialised, sensitive and appropriate knowledge of the subjective experiences of their clients. Against the backdrop of austerity cuts to essential services, DV charities have reported the increasing complexity to their caseload and the issues that service users are reporting. One of the most significant cuts to services has been the narrowing of the financial eligibility criteria for access to legal representation under the Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO). There has been widespread research on the disproportionate experiences of victims and survivors of domestic violence after the legal aid cuts, however, there has been little attention to the extent that this has led to the increased complexity of charity's caseload.This PhD will investigate the extent of which the LASPO has shaped the services that domestic violence charities provide. Specific attention will be drawn to the increase in non-molestation order (NMOs) applications made without the help of legal aid. With limited access to legal representation, one of the only options available for victims of DV is to acquire a behavioural civil order to protect themselves. Despite concerns that changes to legal aid would lead to a downturn in granted orders, NMOs in particular have been increasing in an upward trend since 2013. This can be explained by the fact that NMOs can be applied for without the help of a solicitor. If legal aid is not available, an NMO can be an appealing option, as the applicant can protect themselves from any interaction with the perpetrator.An illustrative case in this area is R (on the application of G.R.) v the Director of Legal Aid Casework and the Lord Chancellor [2020] where the claimant's joint interest in the family home exceeded the minimum requirement to pass the "means regulations" test for legal aid eligibility. The claimant was reported to have £28 in her bank account and was not able to obtain consent from the perpetrator to borrow money against the property to pay for legal costs. This case is not unusual or unique and demonstrates ways in which options to access civil representation can be limited for victims of domestic violence. Although GR was unable to access legal representation through legal aid, she was able to obtain a NMO with the assistance of an IDVA and a specialist solicitor employed by the domestic violence charity Rights of Women to provide a late witness statement. This gives an insight into the growing divergence between NMOs granted with the help of legal aid, and those without. Furthermore, this shows the team and community of specialist and essential support that domestic violence services provide when mainstream services fail. It is important therefore, to investigate further the extent of which the LASPO has impacted charities who are filling the gaps left by the legal aid cuts.Using semi-structured interviews this PhD will investigate the ways in which Independent Domestic Violence Advocates (IDVAs) and Violence against Women Coordinators (VAWG-Cs) are supporting women's access to NMOs, and whether there are any other legal roles that DV charities are performing as a result of the LASPO. Alongside the semi-structured interviews, I will also be conducting focus groups with clients of domestic violence charities in order to understand how the role of the charity is perceived when legal aid is not available. As this is an under-researched area of the effects of the LASPO, the rich, detailed, and unanticipated accounts of service provider's and service user's experiences will be central to this research.