R v Lord Chancellor, ex p Witham [1997] 2 All ER 779

The Lord Chancellor sought to take away several financial aids from poor litigants, e.g. power of Lord Chancellor to remit fees to court in cases of hardship.

The court granted an application of a poor litigant for judicial review on this matter because the rule would usurp from many people their constitutional right: access to the courts.

This was the case despite that an act of parliament conferred certain powers on the Lord Chancellor:

• The court said that nothing in the legislation intended for the LC to be able to take away people’s constitutional right to access the courts.