London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Sep 04, 2025

UK MPs warn of collapse of country’s ‘hollowed out’ justice system due to stagnant pay & years of government cuts in legal aid

UK MPs warn of collapse of country’s ‘hollowed out’ justice system due to stagnant pay & years of government cuts in legal aid

A UK parliamentary committee has warned that the country’s “hollowed out” justice system is at risk of failure because of poor pay for public defence lawyers, for many of whom a career in legal aid has become “less attractive.”

In a new report, the House of Commons Justice Committee has urged the government to consider implementing major reforms and conduct a review on how it funds legal aid. In this system, the state pays defence counsel fees for defendants who cannot afford to hire their own lawyer.

The report, titled ‘The Future of Legal Aid’, noted that there had not been any increase in criminal legal aid fees for the past 20 years. This has contributed to a “growing imbalance” between the ability of criminal law firms to recruit and retain staff – with many preferring to join the better-paying Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) instead.

“It is fundamental to our adversarial justice system that criminal defence services have sufficient resources to provide high-quality representation to suspects and defendants,” noted the MPs who recommended that the government should look into linking legal aid fees to CPS pay rates.

Without significant reform, the report warned of a shortage of qualified criminal legal aid lawyers. This “shift in the balance” between prosecution and defence could “compromise the fairness of the criminal justice system,” it added.


Committee chairman Bob Neill said years of government cuts to reduce the legal aid bill had “hollowed out key parts of the justice system.” As a result of fixed fees, he said, the number of people receiving legal aid is falling while legal aid firms are struggling since the costs involved in complex cases cannot be covered.

“The legal aid system is there to ensure that everyone has access to justice. If the most vulnerable in society are being left to navigate the justice system on their own then fairness is lost and the system has failed,” Neill said.

The committee also pointed to reports by legal aid providers of a “culture of refusal” at the Legal Aid Agency, which is the body within the Ministry of Justice that oversees legal aid in England and Wales.

However, witnesses had told the committee that the agency was seen as “the voice of the Government against the profession” and looked for the “slightest slip” to deny applications for legal aid.

The MPs called for “fundamental changes” to the legal aid system, which needed to be made “more flexible” to ensure that there is a “consistent pipeline of legal aid lawyers” to help the most vulnerable.

Earlier in the year, a report by the House of Lords Constitution Committee had urged the government to increase the legal aid budget, which had seen a “radical reduction” by almost 40% in under a decade.

The report said this had “exacerbated barriers for accessing legal representation” and recommended that the government increases the legal aid budget to “meet the new challenges for access to justice that have arisen during the pandemic.”

That report also warned that the funding cuts to courts and tribunals had led to a backlog of court cases in England and Wales that had reached “crisis levels.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Putin Celebrates ‘Unprecedentedly High’ Ties with China as Gazprom Seals Power of Siberia-2 Deal
China Unveils New Weapons in Grand Military Parade as Xi Hosts Putin and Kim
Queen Camilla’s Teenage Courage: Fended Off Attempted Assault on London Train, New Biography Reveals
Scottish Brothers Set Record in Historic Pacific Row
Rapper Cardi B Cleared of Liability in Los Angeles Civil Assault Trial
Google Avoids Break-Up in U.S. Antitrust Case as Stocks Rise
Couple celebrates 80th wedding anniversary at assisted living facility in Lancaster
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
The White House on LinkedIn Has Changed Their Profile Picture to Donald Trump
"Insulted the Prophet Muhammad": Woman Burned Alive by Angry Mob in Niger State, Nigeria
Trump Responds to Death Rumors – Announces 'Missile City'
Court of Appeal Allows Asylum Seekers to Remain at Essex Hotel Amid Local Tax Boycott Threats
Germany in Turmoil: Ukrainian Teenage Girl Pushed to Death by Illegal Iraqi Migrant
United Krack down on human rights: Graham Linehan Arrested at Heathrow Over Three X Posts, Hospitalised, Released on Bail with Posting Ban
Asian and Middle Eastern Investors Avoid US Markets
Ray Dalio Warns of US Shift to Autocracy
Eurozone Inflation Rises to 2.1% in August
Russia and China Sign New Gas Pipeline Deal
China's Robotics Industry Fuels Export Surge
Suntory Chairman Resigns After Police Probe
Gold Price Hits New All-Time Record
Von der Leyen's Plane Hit by Suspected Russian GPS Interference in an Incident Believed to Be Caused by Russia or by Pro-Peace or by Anti-Corruption European Activists
UK Fintechs Explore Buying US Banks
Greece Suspends 5% of Schools as Birth Rate Drops
Apollo to Launch $5 Billion Sports Investment Vehicle
Bolsonaro Trial Nears Close Amid US-Brazil Tension
European Banks Push for Lower Cross-Border Barriers
Poland's Offshore Wind Sector Attracts Investors
Nvidia Reveals: Two Mystery Customers Account for About 40% of Revenue
Woody Allen: "I Would Be Happy to Direct Trump Again in a Film"
Pickles are the latest craze among Generation Z in the United States.
Deadline Day Delivers Record £125m Isak Move and Donnarumma to City
Nestlé Removes CEO Laurent Freixe Following Undisclosed Relationship with Subordinate
Giuliani Seriously Injured in Accident – Trump to Award Him the Presidential Medal of Freedom
EU is getting aggressive: Four AfD Candidates Die Unexpectedly Ahead of North Rhine-Westphalia Local Elections
Lula and Putin Hold Strategic BRICS Discussions Ahead of Trump–Putin Summit
WhatsApp is rolling out a feature that looks a lot like Telegram.
Investigations Reveal Rise in ‘Sex-for-Rent’ Listings Across Canada Exploiting Vulnerable Tenants
Chinese and Indian Leaders Pursue Amity Amid Global Shifts
European Union Plans for Ukraine Deployment
ECB Warns Against Inflation Complacency
Concerns Over North Cyprus Casino Development
Shipping Companies Look Beyond Chinese Finance
Rural Exodus Fueling European Wildfires
China Hosts Major Security Meeting
Chinese Police Successfully Recover Family's Savings from Livestream Purchases
Germany Marks a Decade Since Migrant Wave with Divisions, Success Stories, and Political Shifts
Liverpool Defeat Arsenal 1–0 with Szoboszlai Free-Kick to Stay Top of Premier League
Prince Harry and King Charles to Meet in First Reunion After 20 Months
Chinese Stock Market Rally Fueled by Domestic Investors
×