The decision of the Court of Appeal on 22 May 2015,
in Re K & H (Children) [2015] EWCA Civ 543, reversed the decision of
Clifford Bellamy in Re K & H (Children: Unrepresented Father:
Cross-Examination of Child) [2015] EWFC 1 and disapproved various decisions of the President.
This case focussed on the principle of
whether the court could order HMCTS to fund legal representation in the absence
of legal aid.
The Court of Appeal held
that the judge had no power to make the order made and therefore allowed the
appeal. The Court found that "it is not possible to interpret either
section 1 of the Courts Act 2001 or section 31G(6) of the Matrimonial and
Family Proceedings Act 1984 as giving the court the power to require the Lord
Chancellor to provide funding for legal representation in circumstances where
such funding is not available under a scheme as detailed and comprehensive as
that which has been set up under the Legal Aid and Sentencing and Punishment of
Offenders Act 2012. The court must respect the boundaries drawn up by
Parliament for public funding of legal representation.
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