Human rights blamed for sharp rise in prisoner legal aid

Taxpayers are funding almost £70,000 a day on legal aid for prisoners after a 25-fold increase in the last decade.

By Tom Whitehead, Home Affairs Editor

The massive rise in criminals taking legal action at the public’s expense was last night blamed on the introduction of the human rights act which has fuelled a flood of cases.

A total of £25.2 million was paid out in legal aid to inmates last year to fund a whole range of disputes from treatment and discipline to sentencing and parole board issues.

The Ministry of Justice last night said it was not possible to detail how many of the cases were related to human rights.

However, the bill has risen sharply year on year since the Human Rights Act came in to force in 2000 and is now more than 25 times the £1 million paid out in 2001/02.

Critics said there was no doubt that was the main driver behind the soaring costs and called on the Government to curb access to legal aid for those who have preyed on society.

Earlier this year burglar Wayne Bishop used legal aid to win an Appeal Court ruling that he should be released early from an eight-month sentence keeping him locked up breached the human rights of his five children, for who he was the sole carer.

In March, two foreign former prisoners won just £1 in damages after a human rights legal battle that had lasted for five years and cost the taxpayer up to £500,000.

The Supreme Court ruled that the pair, a drug dealer and a violent offender, had been unlawfully detained while awaiting deportation in 2006 after the Government failed to formally publish a change in its detention policy and awarded "nominal" damages of £1 each.

And there was outrage last year when it emerged the Soham double child killer Ian Huntley has applied for legal aid to sue the prison service after he was attacked in jail.

Figures released to MPs yesterday showed £25,211,000 was paid in legal aid to prisoners in 2009/10.

That was up from £21.6 million the previous year and double the £12.5 million paid out in 2006/07.

Separate figures released in January showed that a total of £3.5 million was paid out in compensation to prisoners in 2009/10 following legal claims, most of which would have been publicly funded.

Philip Davies, the Tory MP, said: “All of the human rights legislation has obviously propelled the explosion in legal aid claims from prisoners.

“For most people it beggars belief that prisoners of all people, who have caused misery and had no regard for anyone else’s human rights, are wasting taxpayer’s money on claims, some of which are completely vexatious.

“If the Government wants to get a grip on the legal aid bill, it seems to me that the best place to start is in restricting prisoners from pursuing legal aid cases.”

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: "Our legal aid system is currently among the most expensive in the world – that's why we are committed to reducing costs and ensuring only those who really need help can access public funding.

“Prisoners can only receive legal aid after passing a strict means test, and rules introduced last year make it clear that trivial cases – such as complaints about food and privileges – will not be funded."

The spokesman said the department expects the legal aid bill for prisoners to have fallen in 2010/11, figures for which are not available yet.

Under rules introduce in April last year, legal aid is no longer available for claims where the damages available are lower than £5,000 and they are multiparty actions.

Proposals currently going through Parliament will also restrict civil legal aid except for the most serious abuses of position or power by a public authority, or a significant breach of human rights.


(2011-7-7/telegraph)