Number of people securing legal aid soars

THE number of people securing legal aid has soared — with the rise in applications being attributed to the recession.

The Annual Report 2010 of the Legal Aid Board, published yesterday, showed a 21% increase in applications for civil legal aid last year compared with the figure for 2009.

That total of 17,175 applications continues an upward trend of recent years, with the report also showing that last year there was an increase of 22% in applications to law centres, which in turn processed 16,632 cases last year.