Research published by the Public Law Project has highlighted that lockdown measures introduced in the UK in March have already had a significant impact on the Legal Aid Agency's exceptional case funding ("ECF") scheme, with a 23% drop in applications between April and June compared to the same period last year. The fall in applications to the ECF scheme – intended to offer a ‘safety net’ to ensure that legal aid is available where an individual’s human rights would otherwise be breached – is apparent from the Ministry of Justice's latest Legal aid statistics publication.
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