Our criminal justice system is admired throughout the world – how many things can we now say that about? Chris Grayling's proposal to give legal aid contracts to the lowest bidder, regardless of quality, and to introduce further swingeing cuts to rates will bring an end to this (Haulage firm bids for new legal aid contracts, 9 May). A robust legal aid system is essential if we believe in the notion that someone is innocent until proven guilty. Without a credible legal aid system, those that cannot afford representation risk being convicted not because they are guilty but because the prosecution has better lawyers than they do.

Grayling seeks to justify this on cost grounds alone. However what are the costs of the inevitable rise in litigants in person, the rise in miscarriages of justice, making thousands of criminal lawyers and support staff unemployed, or indeed the costs of administering these consultations and tendering processes? If costs are such a concern, what was the justification for the Legal Services Commission's rebranding to become the Legal Aid Agency, less than 10 years after rebranding from the Legal Aid Board? These "reforms" will be introduced by statutory instrument with no parliamentary debate and will not be scrutinised by any democratic process.

The state will arrest and charge a man, prosecute him to the full extent of the law utilising all its resources and give him a lawyer from the company that agreed to provide one at the lowest cost. If this was happening in a far-flung nation we would mock it as regressive and undemocratic. That this is happening in Britain is shameful.

Nick James

Argent Chambers

• When my son, Alfie Meadows, was injured by a police baton strike in the student protests of 2010, I did not at first realise we needed a lawyer. His brother rang 999 to report what he saw as a crime and the IPCC investigation began. With my son still recovering, I chose a law firm that specialised in actions against the police. Three months later my son was charged with violent disorder. He was acquitted unanimously in his third trial. In each trial, the prosecution offered more witnesses, drawing on seemingly unlimited resources. But, long after the meagre funding provided by legal aid ran out, support from our committed, specialist lawyers continued.

Under the new proposals, roughly 1,600 law firms will be replaced by 400 large non-specialist firms. Bids are expected from firms such as Serco and G4S. Defendants will have no choice of lawyer but will be allocated either alphabetically by surname, according to a rota based on date of birth, or by a strict rota round the firms. Once assigned, except in exceptional cases, no change of solicitor will be possible. All bids must come in at least 17.5% below current levels. Chris Grayling claims that "The hard-working public pay for legal aid, and we must deliver a system which commands their confidence and uses their money wisely". It's "skivers" versus "strivers" again. But justice must be there for all if it is to be justice. It is the most vulnerable and the least powerful that need it most.

Susan Matthews

Secretary, Defend the Right to Protest

• The real effect of these changes will be the creation of a two-tier legal system. Under the proposals, the organisation with the lowest bid wins the work. There will inevitably be huge pressure to get a case over with as quickly as possible. The legal aid client will quickly understand that the lawyer given to them by the state has every commercial incentive to spend as little time or effort on their case as possible.

It has taken decades to build a system where there is equal access to the criminal law. That is about to disappear. The rich will continue to pay for the best quality lawyer available. Everyone else, including children, those with disabilities and those unable to understand what is going on will be given a lawyer where there will be no expectation of him or her fighting for what is just.

John A Killah, Solicitor

Frome, Somerset

• Last week, I thought how apt Eddie Stobart would be as providers of transport for any future Ukip administration; today, I see Stobart Barristers are leading contenders for legal aid contracts. You couldn't make it up.

John Bailey

St Albans, Hertfordshire