Recommendation 22

The Government should consider whether the model of the possession duty scheme should be used in other areas of the civil justice system where there are significant numbers of litigants in person. Non-means tested advice at court on the day of hearing could provide an economical way of offering some legal support to vulnerable litigants. We commend the Government and the Legal Aid Agency on their work on the duty scheme, but ask that they learn the lesson that schemes which are “assertive and flexible”, as Simon Mullings described the possession duty scheme, are what is needed.