Research buried for two years by the Ministry of Justice reveals that crown court judges expressed concerns about the rise in people representing themselves in criminal cases.

The research – commissioned by the government in 2015 to review the impact of cuts to legal aid made in the 2012 Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act (LASPO) – featured in-depth interviews with 15 crown court judges and six prosecutors in 2015 to find out their views on the impact of people appearing in court without lawyers.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has kept the contents of the research under wraps until now. When BuzzFeed News first asked for it under freedom of information laws in last April, the request was rejected on the grounds that it “relates to the formulation or development of government policy”.

Following an appeal to the information commissioner, the MoJ finally handed over a six-page “unpublished summary” of the research on Friday night.



It reveals that judges and prosecutors expressed concern that:



People defending themselves without lawyers had “varied but limited understanding” of what was going on in court, a situation that has obvious implications for justice.

Some felt that those without lawyers were more likely to be found guilty.

There could be an impact on witnesses of being cross-examined by the accused.

Unrepresented defendants’ cases resulted in longer hearings and case progression was slower.

All the judges interviewed “stated a very strong preference” to people being represented and would delay hearings to try to make this happen.

There was a potential for those without lawyers to affect the neutrality of a jury in a trial, either, for example, by irritating them by their behaviour or provoking sympathy.

BuzzFeed News – which has now lodged another appeal with the information commissioner to force the MoJ to release the full research, including the testimony from the judges and prosecutors – has been uncovering the impact of legal aid cuts since last year.

One report revealed the rise in people defending themselves in criminal proceedings, following cases in Sheffield magistrates' court. The MoJ has since announced it is reviewing the legislation.

The most serious criminal cases are heard in crown court. Last year, more than 6,000 people appeared without a lawyer or had unknown representation at their first hearing – that’s 7% of all defendants. In 2013 this proportion was 5%.

Though the cuts introduced by LASPO largely affected civil law, this research suggests one “significant change” to criminal legal aid appears to have prompted a rise in people defending themselves without a lawyer.

Since January 2014, defendants whose disposable annual income was £37,500 or more were not eligible for criminal legal aid. Before LASPO there was no upper income threshold in crown court cases and the research says the change created a “risk of an increase in unrepresented defendants in the crown court.”