Barristers and solicitors don’t attract the same level of public support as doctors and nurses. What goes on in the courts is not widely understood, and most people do not expect to need a publicly funded lawyer in the way that they rely on hospitals. Nevertheless, access to justice is a fundamental democratic right, and the chaos and failure unfolding across the legal system as the result of cuts should concern everyone who cares about justice.
Spending on legal aid has shrunk by more than £1bn in five years. By 2019-20 the Ministry of Justice will have seen cuts to its overall budget of 40% – among the deepest of any government department.
Research carried out by civil servants and published in May after it was leaked shows that the disruptive effect of legal aid cuts in England and Wales has spread from the civil courts to the criminal courts, where increasing numbers of defendants are appearing without legal advice or representation, as a consequence of changes including new means tests.
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