Justice written question – answered at on 26 November 2012.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many cases were eligible for legal aid in each of the last five years.
The number of acts of assistance in each year since 2007-08 to 2011-12 is provided in the following table.
Acts of assistance (thousand) | |
2007-08 | 2,502 |
2008-09 | 2,860 |
2009-10 | 2,965 |
2010-11 | 2,715 |
2011-12 | 2,477 |
An act of assistance includes legal aid granted in civil and criminal cases that may proceed to court as well as legal advice and assistance, such as police station advice in criminal matters and initial advice in civil matters. One legal aid applicant may receive more than one act of assistance in a particular matter.
It is possible that a number of cases privately funded would have been eligible for legal aid had the litigant or defendant applied for legal aid. However, it is not possible to determine the number.
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