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About our legal aid schemes
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What is the CLS?
The Community Legal Service (CLS) is a network of LSC-funded advice providers. This civil legal aid scheme helps people to protect their rights.
Civil law is the section of the law that deals with disputes between individuals or organisations. Rather than any sentence, custodial or otherwise, the end result is usually financial compensation.
People experiencing social problems often need legal advice in areas such as relationship breakdown, debt, housing, domestic violence and benefits.
Help is also available for asylum and immigration, education, employment, mental health and community care issues.
This type of help might be providing information leaflets or directing people to other services such as debt counselling or mediation. Civil legal aid is also available for specialist advice and taking cases to court where necessary.
Civil legal aid can fund:
- initial advice and assistance with any legal problem
- a solicitor who can speak on someone’s behalf at court hearings without formally representing them
- help and advice on family disputes, including assistance with family mediation
- legal representation in court proceedings.
It can also support funding of some private cases including multi-party actions.
Community Legal Advice is our helpline offering free, confidential and independent legal advice.
Call the helpline now on 0845 345 4345.
The Criminal Defence Service (CDS) use criminal legal aid to help people who are under investigation or facing criminal charges.
By ensuring that people accused of crimes have access to legal advice and representation, the CDS also helps the police and courts operate fairly and efficiently.
Criminal legal aid can offer:
- advice and assistance from a solicitor on criminal matters
- free legal advice from a solicitor at the police station during questioning
- the cost of a solicitor preparing a case and initial representation for certain proceedings at a magistrates’ or Crown court
- full legal representation for defence in criminal cases at all court levels
- a duty solicitor to provide free legal advice and representation at magistrates’ court.
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Last updated: 14 November 2007