British criminals win legal aid to fight seizing of assets
The head of the agency set up by Home Secretary David Blunkett to confiscate criminals’ homes, cars, and businesses called for a change in the law.
The Assets Recovery Agency (ARA) freezes the assets of people suspected of making money illegally and seeks to strip them of those funds, which can sometimes run into millions of pounds.
While the criminals attempt to fight the case and win back their assets, they may be entitled to Legal Aid.
ARA director Jane Earl said politicians may need to change the rules so that part of the frozen assets can be made available to the criminal to spend on his or her legal bill, instead of it being footed by the taxpayer.
ARA officials were unable to give exact figures on the number of targets who had won Legal Aid. But all who applied for it did have to go through a means test.
“Some have applied and been refused,” said ARA legal head Sue Edwards.
“The Legal Services Commission has been looking quite carefully at this and has been making modifications to the system so that, whilst controlling the budget and controlling exactly what goes out, they will grant Legal Aid in appropriate cases.”
Asked if the ARA’s target criminals should be allowed access to their funds in these cases, Ms Earl said: “That’s certainly something which those who make policy might want to look at.
“The issue for us is making sure that any assets which were released were actually being spent on legal representation rather than being squirreled off into some jurisdiction where we would never be able to find them.”
The ARA was set up under the Proceeds of Crime Act and has the power to sue in the High Court to seize assets even if the owner has not been convicted of a crime.
