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Persons with intellectual disabilities often have difficulties getting help from lawyers. In the UK, there was research about The research showed that:
Information about the law needs to be easy to read and understand. |
Legal services are largely inaccessible for persons with intellectual disabilities, a recent study in the United Kingdom confirmed. This study published on 29 July 2013 presents the findings of research carried out by Norah Fry Research Centre on behalf of Mencap, the Legal Services Board (LSB) and the Legal Services Consumer Panel (LSCP).
The research is based on numerous focus groups with 90 people with an intellectual disability and interviews with 26 family carers and 9 legal services professionals. Findings show that persons with intellectual disabilities are unclear about how legal services could help them, and instead rely on people close to them for support.
The report underlined cases where lawyers could not be understood, appeared uninterested or were not able to make a more appropriate referral. In part this was as a result of the lawyer’s lack of experience in working with persons with intellectual disabilities, the report noted. Other findings highlighted the difficulties that respondents had in getting specialist advice about aspects of the law that are particularly relevant to persons with intellectual disabilities, such as community care, welfare rights and public law.
The research identified several positive effects of getting the right legal advice, including relief, improved quality of life and a sense of empowerment.
“The major barriers to getting a legal service were said to be lack of clear pathways to getting the right support, especially for specialist legal services that may not be available locally. Anxiety about the process, fear of consequences arising from taking legal action and the potential costs involved in doing so, especially following changes to legal aid, were all cited as barriers.”
The report further underlined the need for good practice advice and guidance for solicitors and other legal professionals. This should highlight the importance of producing information in accessible formats, explaining legal terms in plain language and also explaining how persons with intellectual disabilities can access services. Good practice can be promoted through collaboration between legal services and disability and carers’ organisations.
Other recommendations included the need to review the training of legal professionals to ensure that good practice in working with clients with disabilities is included in curricula. Furthermore, the report recommended that disability organisations produce information in easy-to-read to explain to persons with intellectual disabilities how legal services work, the types of issues that they can seek help with, and how they can access legal advice.
