The public lack confidence in the legal system and are concerned about access to justice, according to a Citizens Advice report published ahead of this week’s Autumn Statement from George Osborne.
The report, Responsive justice: How citizens experience the justice system, reveals that 68% of people think there should be better access to the courts and the same number think you need to be rich to afford to pursue justice.
Chairman-elect of the Bar, Chantal-Aimée Doerries QC, says the report will make “uncomfortable reading for those holding the justice budget purse strings”.
She says: “The idea that people who need to use the courts are being subsidised by the tax-payer is completely wrong.
“It is because citizens have access to justice that big businesses pay their small firm suppliers in good time, that parents can get the right pay and leave from their employers, and that elderly people get the care to which they are entitled. When people use the courts and other legal avenues to enforce the law, it helps to ensure that we all play by the rules.”
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