The majority of barristers (63%) think the public does not have access to an acceptable level of justice with some describing being "ashamed" of the state of the justice system, a new Bar Council report has found.
‘Access to justice: the view from the Bar’ found that only one in five (22%) think people have an acceptable level of access and 15% said they “don’t know”.
When those who “don’t know” were removed from the analysis, one in four (26%) barristers agree people have adequate access to justice, and three quarters (74%) do not.
The report was based on 3,669 barristers' answers to a question on access to justice in the Bar Council's biannual survey of the profession, Barristers' Working Lives, conducted in 2025.
Of the 2,714 barristers who think the public cannot access justice in an acceptable way, more than 90% (2,477 respondents) gave written responses explaining why.
One barrister said: “As ever it is the most vulnerable in society that are excluded but also courts have closed and there’s a lack of court staff to support client access. The cost of litigation with the lack of access to legal aid. Judges [are] overworked. Long waits for [hearings] denies justice. We have reached the stage where we should be ashamed.”
One of the main points raised by barristers was access to legal aid. This year, demand for free legal advice services outstripped availability by 17 times, according to the Access to Justice Foundation.
More than half (60%) of all barristers who provided written responses cited delays, backlogs or issues around timing as one of the reasons people cannot access justice to an acceptable level.
The other key points raised centred around court infrastructure and workforce issues, as difficult working conditions are driving people away from the profession.
One criminal barrister said: "Overworked barristers (and solicitors) on both sides who are chasing their tails constantly results in an impact on the administration of justice on a daily basis. In crime, we are still losing too many colleagues to other areas of law or failing to keep people doing that work after pupillage as they can earn far more in other areas of work.”
When it came to the state of the courts, several barristers pointed out that they lack basic facilities like toilets and drinking water with one barrister saying they had rats in their robing room.
Some simply said there were too many problems with the system to count, its demise being a reflection of the priority placed by the government on this "key strand of our democracy".
A total of 62 barristers' comments described the system as "broken".
As one barrister said: "Our justice system is broken… there are no votes in funding court services or legal aid, because most members of the general public have no idea of how important an effective, ethical and independent justice system is to their everyday lives. We are the invisible scaffold of democracy. When we have been dismantled and/or have crumbled away, the public will realise what it has lost.”
Bar Council Chair Kirsty Brimelow KC said: "A properly functioning justice system is a cornerstone of a democratic society. We will continue to represent our members’ views and seek remedy for our justice system that has been largely left to crumble through wilful neglect over decades.
"The justice system should be treated like a vital public service – like schools and hospitals. Our legal services market is second only to the US – we have a fantastic reputation abroad but more needs to be done to serve justice for citizens at home. For too long, the justice system has only been functioning because it has been propped up by the goodwill of those who work within it. Those people are now weary, stressed and depleted.
"The Bar’s concerns in this report must be listened to, and real long term systemic change must follow."
Topics mentioned by the 2,477 barristers who gave a written response in percentages:
- 62% mentioned court delays
- 55% mentioned legal aid/funding
- 34% mentioned costs/affordability
- 24% mentioned court infrastructure