Asked by: Heidi Allen (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has plans to end the requirement for the consent of a spouse when entering into a change of name deed to be enrolled at the Royal Courts of Justice using form LOC020.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government has no current plans to end the requirement, in the Enrolment of Deeds (Change of Name) Regulations 1994, that a court should satisfy itself that the spouse or civil partner is aware when an applicant wishes to change their name through the courts by deed poll. This recognises that the change of name may have implications other than for the applicant. It is not mandatory in all cases – an applicant may seek to demonstrate to the court that there is good reason to dispense with such consent.
This process is for those who wish to have a court-based verification and validation of the change of name Under the common law, it is open to a person aged 16 or above to change their name by deed poll themselves through the ‘unenrolled’ process. This simply requires the deed to be witnessed and attested by the signature of two witnesses.
Asked by: Heidi Allen (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Written Statement of 12 July 2018, on Justice update, HCWS853, whether the reinstatement of legal aid will apply to children located outside of the UK whose cases may fall under (a) the Dublin regulation and (b) section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Children located outside of the UK who wish to challenge a decision by the UK government not to accept a request by another EU Member State to transfer their asylum claim to the UK under the Dublin Regulation can do so by means of judicial review, for which legal aid is already available.
Under section 67, participating States refer eligible children to the UK to be relocated. There is no individual application process or right to relocation if a person meets the eligibility criteria. Therefore, there is no process for which the individual could require legal aid.
We are currently consulting with stakeholders about the reinstatement of legal aid announced in the Written Statement of 12 July 2018, HCWS853, and more information about the policy will be laid out in due course.