THE government has scrapped a major barrier to bereaved families accessing legal aid for inquests following state-related deaths.

Campaigners fighting on this issue for the past 40 years said that the change is a vital step towards families accessing justice, and an important acknowledgement by ministers that the current funding for inquests is “fundamentally unfair.” 

Under the change announced today by the Legal Aid Agency, some bereaved families seeking justice for loved ones in cases where state agencies, such as the police, have been involved in the death will no longer be subjected to “intrusive” means-testing to apply for legal aid. 

Previously families had to declare all their assets and financial information as well as any valuables that could be sold to cover costs in order to apply for legal representation, while state bodies can automatically access public funding for lawyers. 

Commenting on the announcement, Inquest director Deborah Coles said: “This progress is the result of decades of campaigning and is a testament to bereaved people and those that have stood alongside us to expose the injustice and inequality of arms at inquests.

“In the context of a relentless number of state-related deaths, and a culture of denial and defensiveness from multiple state lawyers funded at public expense, legal representation for bereaved families is vital in exposing unsafe practices and abuses of state power. 

“It enables the chance to uncover state failings and in turn prevent more deaths in the future. The next step is to extend automatic non-means-tested public funding to all inquests where the state is represented.”

Victims’ Commissioner for England and Wales Dame Vera Baird also hailed the change as a welcome move and a “step in the right direction.”

The change comes into force from January 12 next year.