York disability rights campaigner, Flick Williams, recently travelled to London to give evidence to the Parliamentary Justice Committee.
The committee chaired by Andy Slaughter, Labour MP for Hammersmith and Chiswick is currently undertaking an inquiry into barriers to accessing justice for a number of groups.
This includes those seeking redress for employment issues, those who have experienced domestic abuse and disabled people seeking to redress the discrimination they have experienced.
Ms Williams said “The core issue is that there are very few solicitors who will take disability discrimination cases because the compensation awards are so low it simply doesn’t pay to take them.
“Consequently, the only option is to take a case as a litigant in person.
“This can be very daunting and many disabled people simply don’t have the confidence, the energy or capacity to do this.”
She added: “I’ve always had a burning sense of injustice which has spurred me on to pursue blatant discrimination to the bitter end.
“I have now taken more cases than I can count, but always choose which cases to take on the basis of their wider impact for other disabled people.
“The case of which I am most proud is the one taken against City of York Council for their unlawful licensing of pavement cafes in blatant breach of government guidance. That certainly had the greatest impact forcing the Council to change its policy thereby enabling all disabled people to get around the city with fewer obstacles on pavements.
The committee was told about many barriers faced by disabled people trying to access justice including inaccessible court buildings and a failure to make reasonable adjustments for court hearings.
“It’s bitterly ironic that disabled people going to court for failures by service providers to make reasonable adjustments as they are required to do by law, then face more reasonable adjustments failures by the court system itself.”
The Justice Committee is compiling a report with recommendations to go to the government.
“I felt very honoured to be invited to give evidence to the committee and am confident that the changes that are needed are understood. At present too much of the burden of enforcing disability rights falls to us as disabled people. Change is needed so that we have easier access to legal help and representation to assist us to enforce our rights.”
