Bar Council calls for end to legal aid limits in domestic abuse cases

The Bar Council has called for sweeping reforms to the family justice system in England and Wales, urging the government to remove financial barriers that prevent victims of domestic abuse from accessing legal help.

In a new policy paper, the organisation — representing 18,000 barristers — said all domestic abuse cases heard in family courts should fall under the scope of legal aid, and that means testing for survivors and alleged victims should be scrapped entirely.

Currently, just 15% of families are eligible for legal aid, a figure the Bar Council says has contributed to the rise of “legal advice deserts” across the country. These shortages, it warned, leave many people with no choice but to represent themselves in court — a situation described as both inefficient and traumatising for survivors.

According to Barbara Mills KC, chair of the Bar Council, the current system is failing those it was designed to protect.

The report found that many courts are overcrowded, under-resourced, and unsafe. In some cases, victims and alleged abusers share the same waiting rooms, and lawyers report facilities so poor that basic amenities such as water and handwashing are unavailable.

Key Recommendations

The Bar Council’s proposals include:

Expanding legal aid coverage to all domestic abuse-related family cases.

Eliminating means testing for survivors.

Increasing funding for family law legal aid.

Fully financing the Family Drug and Alcohol Courts (FDACs) and pathfinder courts.

Continuing the Domestic Abuse Protection Orders and Notices (DAPOs/DAPNs) pilot scheme.

Introducing perpetrator rehabilitation programmes following fact-finding hearings.

The Council said these reforms would allow the family court system to play a greater role in tackling violence against women and girls (VAWG) — a government priority that aims to halve such violence within a decade.

Government figures show that in the year ending March 2024, more than 1.2 million women and 550,000 men aged 16 to 59 were victims of domestic abuse.

A report by the Domestic Abuse Commissioner last month revealed that domestic abuse features in nearly nine out of ten family court cases.

The Bar Council argues that improving access to justice is essential to breaking this cycle.

The policy paper adds to mounting pressure on the government to overhaul legal aid rules and modernise family courts long criticised as slow, overstretched, and underfunded.