Legal Aid in Crisis: When Justice Fails Those Who Need It Most

By Michael Thompson, Founder of the Foursquare Network

Last week, I received a distressing call on our helpline that perfectly encapsulates the dire state of legal aid in our country. A woman, whom I'll call Sarah to protect her privacy, was in tears as she explained how her partner's barrister had been changed just hours before his trial. The newly assigned barrister had only one night—a single night—to prepare for a complex case that could determine the course of two lives.

This is not justice. This is a lottery, where the poorest and most vulnerable members of our society pay the price for a chronically underfunded system. As recent investigations have shown, the UK's criminal justice system is facing such significant delays that some trials are being postponed until as late as 2028. The system has been described as "chaotic and ineffective" by legal professionals, with barristers increasingly abandoning criminal law for less dysfunctional areas of practice.

A System in Collapse

For years, I've watched as successive governments have systematically dismantled our legal aid system through budget cuts and indifference. What was once a cornerstone of our commitment to equality before the law has become a hollow promise.

The long-tail impact of funding cuts introduced back in 2012 has led to widespread barrister shortages and highly limited availability of publicly funded legal representation. When legal aid was first introduced in the 1940s, it was available to roughly 80% of the population. Today, we face a situation where those most in need are left without support.

Civil legal aid fees have not increased at all since fixed fees were introduced in 2007 and have fallen significantly in real terms. There's also an overwhelming amount of unpaid administrative work and bureaucracy imposed by the Legal Aid Agency, with serious delays in payments to providers. This has created what the Law Society calls "legal aid deserts" across the country—entire regions where people cannot access legally aided representation.

But numbers don't convey the human cost. Behind every statistic is a person like Sarah's partner, facing life-altering legal proceedings without adequate representation. Or the domestic abuse survivor who can't afford to leave because they can't access legal support. Or the parent wrongfully separated from their children because they couldn't navigate complex family court proceedings alone.

The False Economy of Cuts

The government's approach to legal aid is not just cruel—it's shortsighted. Every pound cut from legal aid creates costs elsewhere: in our courts, our prisons, our healthcare system, and our social services.

When people can't access early legal advice, minor issues escalate into crises. Tenancy disputes become homelessness. Debt problems become bankruptcies. Family disagreements become bitter court battles.

Last-minute barrister changes, like in Sarah's partner's case, lead to inefficient court proceedings, adjournments, and retrials—all of which cost the taxpayer far more than properly funding representation would have in the first place.

The Crisis in Criminal Legal Aid

The situation in criminal legal aid is particularly acute. According to recent data, barristers have seen an average decrease in real earnings of 28% since 2006, with junior barristers in their first three years of practice earning a median income of only £12,200, which is below minimum wage. It's no wonder that almost 40% of junior criminal barristers left the profession in one year, and more than a quarter of specialist criminal barristers – around 300 – quit in the last five years.

When a defendant's barrister has only hours to prepare, miscarriages of justice become not just possible but probable. The right to a fair trial—a fundamental pillar of our democracy—is undermined when legal teams lack the time and resources to prepare proper defenses.

During a ruling in 2015, Lord Justice Aikens described how "the court was without any legal assistance and had to spend time researching the law for itself" leading to prolonged judicial proceedings and "serious risk of the court reaching incorrect, and therefore unjust, decisions." This is the reality of a system in freefall.

The situation is made worse by the huge backlog of court cases resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. Trials are now being postponed until as late as 2028, with one judge lamenting: "I have cases day in, day out that I am having put over. It can be years, if you lose a date in 2025 it is 2026." As the saying goes, justice delayed is justice denied.

Recent Government Actions and Their Inadequacy

While the government has recently announced some increases in legal aid funding, these measures fall woefully short of what's needed. In November 2024, they promised a £20 million investment in civil legal aid and a £24 million boost for criminal legal aid. But this is a drop in the ocean compared to the 43% reduction in spending since 2004-2005.

The Law Society has warned that Britain is "facing the prospect of an irreversible collapse in publicly funded criminal defence without immediate, increased government funding." A commissioned independent review recommended a minimum 15% increase in remuneration, but the government has offered only 11%.

A Path Forward

If we truly value justice for all, not just those who can afford it, we need urgent reform:

1. Restore funding levels: Legal aid requires immediate investment far beyond the recently announced increases to address the critical shortage of practitioners willing to take on this essential work.

2. Implement an independent fee review body: Taking the setting of legal aid rates out of political hands would ensure sustainable funding based on evidence rather than ideology.

3. Address the backlog: Without immediate action to clear the massive court backlog, innocent people will continue to suffer as they await trial.