Family lawyers have attacked the government’s plans to deny legal aid to domestic violence victims who accept ‘undertakings’ from an allegedly abusive partner.

Responding to a query on the issue from the House of Commons’ Justice Committee, the Ministry of Justice confirmed that undertakings given during the course of domestic violence proceedings will not be accepted as evidence of domestic violence for legal aid purposes.

Legal aid will only be granted in private law cases where there is evidence that domestic violence has taken place.

Undertakings are a means by which a respondent against whom an injunction is being sought can agree to certain terms, without making any admissions relating to their past behaviour. The undertaking has the force of a court order and will be punished by contempt of court if breached.

The Law Society has warned that the decision not to accept undertakings as evidence of domestic violence will increase the number of fully contested hearings, adding to the cost of cases and causing greater trauma for victims.

It said contested hearings will entrench bitter feelings between the parties and make settlement of other issues less likely, further increasing costs throughout the system.

A Law Society spokesman said: ‘This completely undermines the government’s stated intention to resolve more cases through mediation, as it destroys any possibility of constructively working towards a solution that both parties can live with.’

He said abusers could also use the system to deny their victims the chance to get legal representation: ‘You can be a violent thug, but so long as you give an undertaking in court, you will be able to deny your victim access to legal aid.’

Christina Blacklaws, Law Society council member for child care, said the government’s position was ‘duplicitous’.

She said: ‘[The MoJ] is making quite a play of the idea that domestic violence will trigger access to legal aid, but once you dig into the detail it’s very clear that legal aid will be limited to those in possession of a court order.

‘People will have to go through the trauma and cost of contested hearings, when before, quite properly, undertakings were sought which allowed families to carve out solutions without issues being polarised.’

Jenny Beck, managing partner and head of the family department at London firm TV Edwards, said that it would be the children who were the subject of any contact dispute, and who hoped to retain a relationship with both parents, who would be the losers.

In its response to the Justice Committee, the MoJ said undertakings did not give ‘sufficiently clear, objective evidence’ of domestic violence.