CERD recommendations 2024, paragraph 50
Plain English recommendation
Government should:
Ensure ethnic minorities in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and the overseas territories and Crown dependencies have fair and effective access to legal aid to seek justice. The government should review the legal aid system, including the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012, to ensure that ethnic minorities are not disproportionately affected by lack of access to justice. Government should increase the allocation of human and financial resources to ensure the Legal Aid Agency functions adequately and efficiently.
Original UN recommendation
Recalling its previous concluding observations, the Committee recommends that the State party ensure that individuals belonging to ethnic minorities in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, the overseas territories and the Crown dependencies have fair and effective access to legal aid to seek justice. It also recommends that the State party review the legal framework on the legal aid system, including the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012, in order to ensure that persons belonging to ethnic minorities are not disproportionately affected. It further recommends that the State party increase the allocation of human and financial resources to ensure the adequate and efficient functioning of the Legal Aid Agency.
Date of UN examination
24/09/2024
Original UN document
Download the original CERD concluding observations 2024 on the UN website.
Last updated on 11/04/2025