15:10

Barristers have called on whichever party wins the general election to restore public confidence in a “properly funded justice system” and increase spending to redress past cuts to legal aid, reports Owen Bowcott.



At the Bar Council’s annual conference in central London, the leader of the organisation, which represents 16,500 barristers throughout England and Wales, urged politicians to divert more resources to the “damaged” system.



Richard Atkins QC, chair of the Bar Council, said:

The rule of law and independence of the judiciary are fundamental pillars of our democracy. Judges apply the law without fear or favour, and this must not be undermined. Once highly regarded as a vital public service, today’s justice system is widely acknowledged to be suffering from years of under-investment. Crime is increasing, yet prosecutions are falling. Too many people are unable to access justice quickly or effectively. As a result, there is understandable public dissatisfaction with the state of the justice system. Urgent action is required to remedy this.

The organisation’s 2019 “Manifesto for Justice” says: “The cumulative effect of ill-conceived, short-term decisions over the last decade is undeniable: swingeing cuts to civil, criminal and family legal aid; court closures; under-resourcing the Crown Prosecution Service; the increase of unrepresented people filling courts (Litigants in Person); a criminal justice system on its knees with crime going up and prosecutions going down. As a matter of urgency, the next government must address the state of the justice system.”

The Ministry of Justice has suffered a 40% cut in its budget between 2011 and 2020 and overseen mass closures of courts around the country. “Justice must not become a postcode lottery,” the manifesto states. “We have fewer courts than ever before. 277 courts and 18 tribunals across England and Wales have closed over the last decade. There are huge backlogs of cases in many of our remaining courts and yet courtrooms are lying empty.”

Cuts to legal aid should be reversed, the Bar Council says. “Access to justice underpins a fair, just and reasonable society. It is not a commodity and must never be a luxury available only to those who can afford to pay for it.

“Legal aid should be recognised as being as much a part of civil society as the NHS, housing, social security and education. It should be reintroduced to help the most vulnerable and marginalised citizens who are currently left to fend for themselves. The next government must reinvest in legal aid, reversing a decade of cuts.”

The six-point programme also calls for an end to what has been termed the “innocence tax”. “The current situation of the state prosecuting an individual, refusing to give him or her legal aid and then refusing to fully reimburse their private legal costs when they are acquitted is desperately unfair. It must be reformed.”

The Bar Council calls on the next government to recognise the importance of the legal industry which in 2017 contributed £26.8bn to the UK economy.