As many as half of all detainees may not have access to legal representation, according to BID’s latest legal advice survey. The tenth edition of BID’s six-monthly survey, carried out in May this year, spoke to 136 people currently detained under Immigration Act powers. Of them, 50% didn’t currently have a legal representative.
Perhaps more worryingly, 1 in 10 people in detention have never had legal representation since being detained, according to the report.
The survey results suggest that less than half of all people who have an appointment with a legal representative who is part of the Detention Duty Advice (DDA) scheme (and just 1 in 4 overall) are eventually taken on as a client by the contract provider. This leaves a shortfall in legal representation, and seriously damages the ability of many detainees to access the justice system effectively.
Full results of the latest survey are available here.
