This article was prepared by lawyers from the London office of Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw
HUMAN RIGHTS
The following two cases show the impact on civil litigation of the European Convention on Human Rights. In the first case the Court held that withdrawal of a legal aid certificate could be a breach of Article 6 ECHR (right to a fair trial) and in the other the Court held that the length of time proceedings had taken was also a breach of Article 6.
R v Legal Services Commission ex parte Alliss, QBD Administrative Court (Jackson J) 25 September 2002
This was an application for judicial review of a decision by the Legal Services Commission ("LSC") to withdraw the claimant’s legal aid certificate on the grounds that the withdrawal of legal aid was a breach of the claimant’s right to a fair trial (Article 6(1) of the European Convention on Human Rights); that the decision to discharge the legal aid certificate was both unreasonable and inconsistent with earlier decisions; and it was
