Risk of vigilantes as justice system ‘on the brink’, warns Law Society head

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People who have been let down by a criminal justice system that is on “the brink of collapse” are at risk of turning to vigilantism, the new head of the Law Society has warned. 

Richard Atkinson, whose group represents solicitors in England and Wales, said courts and prisons desperately need more funding to prevent a failure of the system that could ultimately lead to people taking “justice into their own hands”. 

He said: “I don’t want to be overdramatic, but when people lose faith in the criminal justice system the risk is that they seek to find justice in alternative ways — more direct ways.” 

Atkinson, who took up the post earlier this month, also warned the Law Society is considering taking the government back to court in a long-running dispute over legal aid pay.

Last week several of the remaining law firms that provide publicly funded criminal defence services threatened to walk away without an increase in rates.

The UK is in the grip of a prisons capacity crisis, with the government twice forced to release a tranche of criminals earlier than planned in recent months, while cuts over years have left the court system facing substantial backlogs. 

Real terms funding per head declined 22 per cent between 2010 and 2023, according to the Bar Council.

Atkinson said there had been “very little” direct dialogue with the Treasury ahead of Wednesday’s Budget, and that ministers had so far offered nothing more than “warm words”. 

“This isn’t just people asking for a bit more money — this is the system on the brink of collapse.”

The justice sector is an “easy target” for spending cuts, he said, acknowledging that the public are not necessarily “concerned about the number of struggling legal aid lawyers.” 

Last week the most senior judge in England and Wales, Baroness Carr, warned that the judicial system had “almost been taken for granted as the envy of the world” as she called for “sustainable and long-term funding”. 

Atkinson said there is a risk that police end up releasing more suspects because of a lack of legal aid lawyers — who are paid by the state — to represent them, while victims and witnesses would “give up and not give evidence” because trials had been delayed so long, he warned. 

Authorities are in for “a really rude shock if they let it [the system] collapse,” he said, pointing to the summer’s far right riots as an example of how easily unrest can erupt.

“I’m not saying it’s going to happen ,” he said. But “if you push people too far, you risk it happening.” 

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper previously identified the state of the justice system as a factor contributing to the riots, saying that those taking part believed “they could get away with it”.

One area that has been hit particularly hard is legal aid, where spending has fallen by 28 per cent in real terms over the past 10 years, according to the National Audit Office.

The Law Society brought a case to the High Court last year, warning that much of the work representing criminal defendants had become economically unviable.

In a ruling earlier this year the court identified shortcomings in the previous government’s decision-making when it decided against implementing the findings of an independent review that recommended a 15 per cent increase in rates.

Atkinson said the government had yet to say how it would respond. “There is an opportunity to go back to court if necessary, and that is what we are very close to doing,” he warned.

He said the necessary funds were “minuscule” in the context of public sector pay. And yet “there’s a huge amount at stake”.

The Ministry of Justice said: “The new Government inherited a justice system under enormous strain and a legal aid system facing significant challenges.”

“Criminal defence lawyers play an essential role in our justice system,” it said, adding it was considering the findings of a report by the Criminal Legal Aid Advisory Board.