There is a “real danger” to Britain’s reputation internationally if problems such as court backlogs are not tackled, a justice chief has said.
The deputy president of the Supreme Court, Lord Hodge, told a committee of peers that as problems persist, it “weakens our sell of the UK as a successful rule of law society”.
He appeared alongside Supreme Court president Lord Reed, who said the sheer cost of access to the courts can be a barrier to access to justice, for example in family law.
Asked by the Lords Constitution Committee if he saw access to justice as an actual threat rather than a potential one, Lord Reed replied: “In some areas of practice, I think it is an actual threat.
“For example, if you’re a rape complainant, and the trial is being fixed for 2028, then, you know, either you have a terrible strain hanging over you for years, or you decide that it’s not worth it and just give up.”
Lord Hodge added: “We’re acutely aware of the access to justice issue, and in our outreach work presenting the UK as a rule of law society, we’re also aware that if the problem persists, it weakens our sell of the UK as a successful rule of law society.”
He said while in commercial law people get an “excellent service” in courts across the UK because there is money to fund the litigation, the real problem is for areas such as family or housing claims where there is not group funding.
While it is not the responsibility for the Supreme Court top judges to campaign on the issues in those courts, overseen by the Lady Chief Justice, he said: “I think all we can do is speak out in our extrajudicial lectures to warn of the real threat to access to justice and its wider impact on the UK’s reputation.”
Lord Reed said the issue was raised with international counterparts two weeks ago when being asked about how the UK operates, and was asked about how criminal justice is dealt with in the courts.
“I explained that there were problems with long backlogs, and people were very surprised to hear that,” Lord Reed said.
“And in fact, one of them said, the president of a constitutional court said, ‘I’m very surprised to hear that because we regard the United Kingdom as a model’.”
Lord Hodge added: “So I think there is a real danger to Britain’s reputation internationally if these problems aren’t tackled, but neither Lord Reed nor I have any official locus beyond what we can say in lectures and things of that nature.”
In criminal courts, the backlog for crown court cases hit a new record high by the end of last year at 74,651.
Justice minister Sarah Sackman KC also warned the backlog “could hit 100,000 by the end of 2029”.
A review by Sir Brian Leveson is looking at how to overhaul the court system and is expected to give recommendations for reform this spring.
