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Written question asked by Alex Cunningham (Labour) on Tuesday, 19 March 2024, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Friday, 22 March 2024 (named day). It was answered by Laura Farris (Conservative) on Friday, 22 March 2024 on behalf of the Ministry of Justice.

Civil Proceedings and Family Proceedings: Legal Representation

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the document entitled Qualified legal representative appointed by the Court: Statutory guidance, published in July 2022, how many qualified legal representatives have been registered in (a) family and (b) other civil cases since the publication of that guidance.

Answer

The Qualified Legal Representative (QLR) scheme was introduced in July 2022, following the Government’s Domestic Abuse Act (2021) which prohibited unrepresented perpetrators or alleged perpetrators of abuse from cross-examining their victims or alleged victims in family and civil proceedings, and vice versa. The prohibition ensures that vulnerable victims and witnesses are not traumatised by being cross-examined directly by their alleged perpetrator.

As of 20 March 2024, there are currently 366 QLRs registered to undertake work in the family courts and 78 QLRs registered to undertake work in the civil courts. We do not hold central data on total registrations since the publication of the statutory guidance.

Circumstances under which a QLR is required vary, for example, depending on whether parties have their own representation, and decisions on which cases require QLRs are taken by the courts. We do not collect data centrally on how many cases have required a QLR, or the number of QLRs that have presented cases under the scheme.

We do not hold central data on how many QLRs have completed training, which they are able to access from a range of external providers. The Government encourages legal professionals to take up this important work to assist in both the family and civil courts, and to complete the required training as early as practicable.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
19348
Session
2023-24
Grouped for answer
Yes
Subjects
Civil proceedings Legal representation Family proceedings
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk