The Bar Council has welcomed the new Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice the Rt Hon Alex Norris MP and the new Attorney General Rt Hon Ellie Reeves KC MP.
The Bar’s representative body has also set out its priorities, including urging the government to scrap its proposal to limit the right to jury trials.
Kirsty Brimelow KC, Chair of the Bar Council, said: “We welcome the appointments of Alex Norris MP as Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice and Ellie Reeves KC MP as Attorney General.
“We thank Rt Hon David Lammy MP and Lord Richard Hermer KC for their engagement with the Bar and appreciate David Lammy MP’s interest in reforming the youth justice system.
“We encourage the new Lord Chancellor to apply the evidence that reducing the Crown Court backlog does not require reducing jury trials, and to focus instead on measures that actually will deliver swifter justice. Some of those measures already are having effect – such as opening up empty courtrooms and targeted listing.
“Justice is a stated priority for the Labour government. This must mean proper and long-term investment in legal aid and in the courts across the jurisdictions to reduce backlogs and enable access to justice. Significant investment in supporting victims to court is undermined if they are supported to a hearing that then is adjourned due to lack of barristers, failed technology, failed delivery of people to court from custody or collapsed infrastructure.
“After 14 years of cuts, despite some modest increases, the Ministry of Justice budget is set no higher in 2025-2026 than it was 20 years ago. This is despite a 27% larger economy and a 16% larger English and Welsh population. The legal services sector contributes £38bn in Gross Value Added (GVA) to the UK economy. Growth in legal services has outpaced the wider UK economy by roughly 50% over the last decade. Confidence in legal services is inextricably linked to the state of the publicly funded civil, family and criminal justice systems. This is the shop window. And so there is financial benefit to investing in legal aid as well as it being an important part of a liberal democracy.
“Collectively, we support a continuation of the English Law Promotion Panel and urge a joined-up approach across departments to ensure that UK legal services are included in Free Trade Agreements, particularly in relation to dispute resolution. The new government also should ratify the Council of Europe Convention for the Protection of the Profession of Lawyer to support and enhance the rule of law in the UK and Europe.”