Three quarters of barristers believe people in England and Wales cannot access justice at an acceptable level, according to a damning new report from the Bar Council.
The report, Access to Justice: The View from the Bar, draws on responses from 2,477 barristers – nearly 53,000 words of testimony – and paints a picture of a justice system in crisis, undermined by chronic underfunding, crumbling courts, and a workforce at breaking point.
Only 22% of respondents said people could access justice adequately, while 63% said they could not. Among criminal barristers, eight in ten said access was unacceptable.
Funding emerges as the central problem. Since 2011/12, legal aid expenditure has fallen by £886m in real terms, and justice funding is 30.4% below where it would be had it kept pace with inflation, population growth, and the economy. Demand for free legal advice now outstrips availability by 17 times. Yet the report notes that every £1 spent on early legal advice saves the government £2.71.
The consequences are stark. More than half of respondents cited funding issues, pointing to ‘legal aid deserts,’ rising litigants in person, and a two-tier system where justice is available only to the very rich or the very poor. In 2025, neither party was represented in almost half of private family law cases.
Court infrastructure is also failing. Some 43% of court buildings have closed since 2010, and barristers described dilapidated facilities—broken lifts, unclean toilets, rats in robing rooms, and unreliable IT. Delays and backlogs were mentioned by 60% of respondents, with Crown Court trials listed as far ahead as 2029 and some employment tribunals scheduling into 2028.
The workforce is suffering too. Barristers reported burnout, exhaustion, and low morale, with many leaving publicly funded work for better-paid areas. ‘Stress levels, anxiety, depression and mental health problems are at an all-time high,’ one respondent said. Others warned that victims and witnesses are withdrawing from cases due to interminable delays.
The report calls for long-term investment in the justice system, comparing it to the NHS and education as a pillar of democracy.
Bar Council Chair Kirsty Brimelow KC said: ‘A properly functioning justice system is a cornerstone of a democratic society. We will continue to represent our members’ views and seek remedy for our justice system that has been largely left to crumble through wilful neglect over decades.
‘The justice system should be treated like a vital public service – like schools and hospitals. Our legal services market is second only to the US – we have a fantastic reputation abroad but more needs to be done to serve justice for citizens at home. For too long, the justice system has only been functioning because it has been propped up by the goodwill of those who work within it. Those people are now weary, stressed and depleted.
‘The Bar’s concerns in this report must be listened to, and real long term systemic change must follow.’
Photo: RDNE Stock project
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