How can ordinary people get legal advice and representation if they cannot afford it?
Access to justice and funding: the meaning of access to justice, sources of legal advice, public funding and legal aid since LASPO, and private and conditional fee funding.
A focused answer to the AQA A-Level Law access to justice and funding topic, covering the meaning of access to justice, sources of legal advice, public funding and legal aid after LASPO 2012, and private and conditional fee arrangements.
Reviewed by: AI editorial process; not yet individually human-reviewed
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What this dot point is asking
AQA wants you to explain what access to justice means, identify how people get legal advice and representation, describe public funding (legal aid) and the impact of LASPO, and explain private funding methods such as conditional fee agreements.
The meaning of access to justice
Sources of legal advice
People can get help from solicitors (some offer fixed-fee or free first interviews), the Citizens Advice service, law centres in deprived areas, trade unions (for members), insurance (legal expenses cover), and pro bono schemes run by lawyers and charities such as the Free Representation Unit.
Public funding and LASPO
Private and conditional fee funding
For matters outside legal aid, people fund cases privately, through legal expenses insurance, or through a conditional fee agreement (CFA). Under a CFA, the lawyer takes no fee if the case is lost but charges a normal fee plus a success fee if the case is won; this is the "no win, no fee" model widely used in personal injury claims. Since the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012, the success fee is no longer recoverable from the losing party and instead comes out of the winning client's damages, capped at 25 per cent of certain damages in personal injury cases. Damages-based agreements allow the lawyer to take an agreed percentage of the damages awarded. Before-the-event and after-the-event insurance can cover the risk of paying the opponent's costs.
The wider debate is about whether access to justice is genuinely protected once legal aid is withdrawn. The growth of litigants in person (people representing themselves without a lawyer) puts pressure on the courts and can disadvantage those facing represented opponents. Online dispute resolution, fixed recoverable costs and a greater emphasis on mediation are all promoted as ways of widening access at lower cost, but critics argue they cannot substitute for proper representation in complex or high-stakes cases. A strong evaluation links the funding methods back to the underlying principle of equality before the law and the rule of law: a right is only meaningful if a person can practically enforce it.
How access to justice is examined
This topic appears as evaluative extended questions in the legal-system module. Examiners reward accurate detail on LASPO and the funding methods, a balanced assessment of the cost-versus-access tension, and a clear conclusion rather than a one-sided account.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of AQA exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
AQA 201910 marksDiscuss the extent to which the changes made by the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 have affected access to justice. [10 marks]Show worked answer →
A Discuss question needs balanced AO3. Explain that LASPO removed whole areas of civil law (most private family, housing, debt, employment and welfare cases) from the scope of legal aid and tightened the means and merits tests.
Argue both sides: critics say it created advice deserts, forced litigants in person on the courts and reduced access for the poorest, undermining equality before the law; supporters point to the need to control a rising legal-aid budget and the availability of conditional fee agreements and mediation as alternatives. Markers reward developed points on each side, accurate detail on what LASPO changed, and a supported conclusion on the overall impact on access to justice.
AQA 20214 marksExplain how a conditional fee agreement operates as a method of funding a civil claim. [4 marks]Show worked answer →
Under a conditional fee agreement (the no win, no fee model), the lawyer agrees to charge nothing if the case is lost. If the case is won, the lawyer charges the normal fee plus a success fee calculated as an uplift on that fee, capped as a percentage. The client may also need after-the-event insurance to cover the opponent's costs if they lose. Markers reward the no-fee-on-loss point, the success-fee uplift on winning, and recognition that it is widely used in personal injury claims, distinguishing it from free pro bono representation.
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Sources & how we know this
- AQA A-level Law (7162) specification — AQA (2017)