Justice viewed from the Bar

The Bar Council report, ‘Access to justice: the view from the Bar’, published this week, found only one in five of the 3,669 barristers questioned believe the public can access justice in an acceptable way. Most of the rest of the barristers gave written responses explaining their view—of these, 62% mentioned court delays. More than half (55%) mentioned legal aid. Other concerns included affordability and costs, court closures and the rise of self-represented litigants.

Some barristers reported problems with basic facilities at courts such as a lack of drinking water, nobody answering the telephone at the county court, insufficient time being allocated for cases at the tax tribunal, and even rats.

One barrister complained: ‘Overworked barristers (and solicitors) on both sides who are chasing their tails constantly results in an impact on the administration of justice on a daily basis.

‘In crime, we are still losing too many colleagues to other areas of law or failing to keep people doing that work after pupillage as they can earn far more in other areas of work.’

Another barrister warned the public will realise what is lost only when the justice system has ‘crumbled away’. Another said: ‘In crime if you don’t qualify for legal aid you have to be very rich to afford a decent level of representation.’

The survey was conducted in 2025 as part of the Bar’s biannual survey of the profession, ‘Barristers’ Working Lives’.

Kirsty Brimelow KC, chair of the Bar Council, said: ‘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.’