We're very happy to report that the Lord Chancellor has agreed to settle Lynn's judicial review and has provided her with the funding she needs to continue her fight for justice. Thank you everyone for all your amazing support!

We’ve been granted permission to bring Lynn’s case for judicial review! 

PILC solicitors can now proceed at pace with Lynn’s challenge to the Legal Aid Agency’s ageist policy. 

Thank you so much to everyone who has supported Lynn so far. Your donations help to protect her from adverse legal costs.  

We’ve been granted permission on the following grounds: 

• The legal aid means regulations are indirectly discriminatory on the basis of age under Article 14 ECHR, within the ambit of Article 3, Article 6 and Article 8 ECHR. 

• The failure to give due regard to the need to prevent discrimination and disadvantages on the basis of age is a breach of the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED). 

No permission decision was made as to whether the legal aid means regulations are indirectly discriminatory on the basis of age under the Equality Act 2010. This will be dealt with at the substantive hearing.  

Thank you so much for backing Lynn’s case so far. We’ll be in touch with a date for the judicial review – in the meantime, please consider donating whatever you can afford to support Lynn as she continues to fight for justice.  

Lynn’s case has been listed for an oral permission hearing at the High Court on 18 June 2024. This is when a judge will decide whether her challenge of the discrimination against pensioners accessing legal aid will be granted permission to continue.

If it is granted, Lynn’s case will proceed to a full hearing. If we lose, Lynn will have to pay the government’s legal costs.

We thank everyone for their kind support for this challenge and have extended the stretch target for the Crowdjustice fundraiser to £9,000.

Background

“I’ve tried every route available to get justice and at every point I’ve been blocked. It’s as though I have no rights.”

In 2022, Lynn*, aged 70, was the victim of a violent crime. To help come to terms with what she experienced, she reached out to an organisation that was set up to provide psychological support.

Instead of finding relief in this service, she was sexually assaulted by the man who was supposed to help her.

Barred from accessing justice - because of her age

Lynn wants justice. But when she set out to take legal action against the organisation, she was unable to get legal aid. This is because her state pension and her housing benefit mean that she’s ever so slightly over what is known as the ‘disposable income threshold’.

The threshold is set at £733. Lynn doesn’t buy luxury items, and once she’s spent money to buy food, travel, heat her home and pay all of her bills for a whole month she has limited money left for other activities. This threshold was set over ten years ago before the cost of living crisis began and food and energy prices were far, far lower.

Lynn’s age means that she must access a state pension and housing benefit rather than universal credit. If she was below the pensionable age, she would be able to get legal aid. It is purely the fact that she’s a pensioner that is preventing her from accessing justice.

“All pensioners should be able to access the legal system. That's why I’m bringing this case, for myself but also for all of them.”

Rather than give up, she’s decided to challenge the Legal Aid Agency head on. She wants to highlight that the ‘disposable income threshold’ is discriminating against people above the pensionable age.

She wants to ensure that others in her situation are not excluded from accessing justice like she is right now.

The risk to Lynn in taking this case to court

PILC solicitors have asked the Legal Aid Agency to exercise discretion in Lynn’s case to no avail. We’ve fully exhausted the Legal Aid Agency’s internal appeal system and filed her ‘judicial review’ challenging the failure to award her legal aid in the High Court.

Lynn has her first court hearing on 18 June 2024 at which the Court will decide whether her case is allowed to proceed.

PILC will never charge her for taking this case to court. Win or lose, we will be there with her to fight her case. But should the court decide to turn her case away again (or if she is unsuccessful) she’ll have to pay all of the government department’s legal fees.

Please donate anything you can afford to help protect Lynn, and help her to continue the fight so that no one is excluded from seeking justice. Thank you.

* Not her real name 

All funds raised will go towards protecting Lynn from adverse legal costs should her challenge be unsuccessful. If and when Lynn is successful, all money raised will be ring-fenced for future legal action.