The Justice Select Committee's report Access to Justice: Legal Aid has warned that declining availability of legal aid and increasing levels of self-representation is creating an ‘unacceptably high risk of miscarriages of justice and undermines the efficient administration’ of the courts.
The report concludes by urging the government to prioritise restoring legal aid as an effective, sustainable and accessible service for those who need it most.
Welcoming the report and its findings, Bar Council Chair Kirsty Brimelow KC said: "Long term investment is required into our criminal, civil and family justice system.
"Legal aid should be alongside NHS and education as an essential public service. The Justice Committee report underlines how decades of underfunding have resulted in both access to justice and justice being in jeopardy. As the report states 'access to justice cannot exist in practice if people who qualifiy for legal aid cannot obtain representation'.
"Legal services contributed £42.6 billion to the UK economy in 2024. Our publicly funded courts are the windows to our justice system and confidence is shaken by the state of our publicly funded courts. Investment in legal aid is an investment in economic growth as well as justice.
"We continue to call for adequate investment in criminal, civil and family legal aid to ensure access to justice and keep practitioners working in these essential areas. The ongoing sticking plaster approach is very damaging to society as shown starkly by the backlog of cases."