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The country’s ‘serious problem’ with access to justice will cause fragmentation, the President of the Supreme Court warned in a stinging attack on legal aid policy over the last 30 years.
Lord Neuberger, who retires in the autumn, told the Australian Bar Association’s biennial conference in July that it was ‘fundamentally wrong’ if ordinary citizens and businesses cannot obtain competent legal advice.
He said: ‘Access to justice is a practical, not a hypothetical, requirement. And if it does not exist, society will eventually start to fragment.
‘It is a fragmentation which arises when people lose faith in the legal system: they then lose faith in the rule of law, and that really does undermine society.’
Criticising successive governments, he said: ‘It verges on the hypocritical for governments to bestow rights on citizens while doing very little to ensure that those rights are enforceable.
‘It has faint echoes of the familiar and depressing sight of repressive totalitarian regimes producing wonderful constitutions and then ignoring them.’
Things, he said, had taken a ‘wrong turning’ with the Access to Justice Act 1999 and he doubted the clock could be turned back.
Commenting, Bar Chair Andrew Langdon QC said: ‘There needs to be a complete rethink on the availability and sufficiency of legal aid to prevent a dislocation of the law from the very many who cannot afford its protection.’
The country’s ‘serious problem’ with access to justice will cause fragmentation, the President of the Supreme Court warned in a stinging attack on legal aid policy over the last 30 years.
Lord Neuberger, who retires in the autumn, told the Australian Bar Association’s biennial conference in July that it was ‘fundamentally wrong’ if ordinary citizens and businesses cannot obtain competent legal advice.
He said: ‘Access to justice is a practical, not a hypothetical, requirement. And if it does not exist, society will eventually start to fragment.
‘It is a fragmentation which arises when people lose faith in the legal system: they then lose faith in the rule of law, and that really does undermine society.’
Criticising successive governments, he said: ‘It verges on the hypocritical for governments to bestow rights on citizens while doing very little to ensure that those rights are enforceable.
‘It has faint echoes of the familiar and depressing sight of repressive totalitarian regimes producing wonderful constitutions and then ignoring them.’
Things, he said, had taken a ‘wrong turning’ with the Access to Justice Act 1999 and he doubted the clock could be turned back.
Commenting, Bar Chair Andrew Langdon QC said: ‘There needs to be a complete rethink on the availability and sufficiency of legal aid to prevent a dislocation of the law from the very many who cannot afford its protection.’
Far-ranging month for the Chair of the Bar
Endometriosis Awareness North, a charity raising awareness of endometriosis and supporting those affected across the North of England, has received a £500 boost from AlphaBiolabs via the company’s Giving Back initiative
Marie Law, Director of Toxicology at AlphaBiolabs, examines the most recent data on alcohol misuse in the UK, and the implications for alcohol testing in family proceedings
Clement Cowley, Partner at The Penny Group, explains how tailored financial planning can help barristers take control of their finances and plan with confidence
Marie Law, Director of Toxicology at AlphaBiolabs
A £500 donation from AlphaBiolabs has been made to the leading UK charity tackling international parental child abduction and the movement of children across international borders
Seeing the full picture – Baljit Ubhey OBE outlines the CPS action plan to tackle violence against women and girls, offering insights directly relevant to courtroom practice
Heritage as an anchor and a compass, finding our common humanity and embracing the power of the outsider – Melina Antoniadis’s lessons learnt
Is the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office process fit for purpose? Women barristers’ experiences of bullying are not being reported or, if they are, they are not making it through the system, says Tana Adkin KC
Review by Daniel Barnett
Chair of the Bar reports back
