Desperate times for legal aid

At the beginning of last year the situation was grim; by January 2003, the situation is turning absolutely desperate.

The Gazette's annual survey of legal aid practitioners shows the entire system of state funded legal advice is on the verge of crisis and collapse.

The figures we report on this week expose a malaise so profound that many practitioners are forecasting that it is only a matter of time (and not that much time) before legal aid is wound up completely.

Hardly a surprising conclusion when our survey shows that big legal aid providers - such as Hugh James in Wales and and Fisher Meredith in London - are considering pulling out altogether or cutting their publicly funded work by half.

A snapshot of the comments from solicitors illustrates the problems.

Heading the list are complaints over low pay, overbearing red tape and bureaucratic errors, and a perception of ministerial and official contempt for the service provided.

As one practitioner bluntly states: 'If I could get out of this toxic job, I would.' These are clearly desperate voices from lawyers who are otherwise hugely committed to their clients and the communities in which they practise.

Their message is clear: if the government does not address issues of pay and morale - and the knock-on problems they have triggered in recruitment - then the legal aid crisis will curtail access to justice for the least advantaged members of society.

The Gazette's research will be built on by the Law Society's own forthcoming consultation with the profession to broaden the debate on publicly funded legal services.

If legal aid is to be anything more than a 50-year footnote in history, then ministers need to pay heed.