McKenzie Friend Case

Divisional court case that held that the ‘right’ of having a McKenzie friend (named after this case) to assist in court is subject to the discretion of the court and therefore may be forbidden. The case was heard at a time when magistrate's courts throughout the UK were involved in the process of hundreds of thousands of cases for nonpayment of the poll tax. In this case Mr and Mrs Barrow were seeking assistance from a member of a local anti-poll-tax group with experience in this area of the law, because no legal-aid funding was available.