Justice delayed is justice denied!

God is just and He is a God of justice. He loves righteousness and justice and, by extension, He loves to see justice being done within the nations. ‘When justice is done, it is a joy to the righteous but terror to evildoers’ (Prov. 21:15)

Sadly, in a world broken by sin, injustice is rife. We might naturally think of extreme examples of injustice in the world – women, for instance, oppressed and at risk of death at the hands of Iran’s ‘morality police’. But what of the Western world – particularly in the UK – where we’re at risk of growing levels of injustice within the criminal justice system because of its increasingly parlous state?

The recent industrial action by criminal barristers has brought into sharp relief the pitiful pay of criminal lawyers and the wider impact of years of chronic underfunding of the justice system. This may surprise many readers, but thousands of criminal barristers – mostly self-employed - are working for less than a living wage (many don’t even make enough to cover their expenses). Further, it’s not unusual for a criminal barrister to work and not get paid for that work. Worse still, it’s not unheard of for a criminal barrister to wait years to be paid by the Legal Aid Agency. This is neither fair nor just.

At the time of writing, the strikes – which began in April – had just been suspended after criminal barristers accepted (by a small majority) a government offer of a 15% pay rise on Crown Court legal aid fees. But the reality is that even a 15% rise is not a lot – and here’s why: the most junior criminal barristers – after six years plus of training – earned less than £13,000 a year in 2019–2020 before tax and after paying out for expenses and memberships.

Unsurprisingly, an increasing number of criminal barristers are leaving the profession or moving to better paid areas of legal practice. If there are not enough criminal lawyers, the justice system will fail those whom it is intended to serve.

It’s not just barristers who are feeling a sense of injustice and undervalue. The solicitors’ professional body, the Law Society of England and Wales, has for years been calling for government to urgently address wider problems within the criminal justice system.

What are those problems? If you’ve any experience of being caught up in the justice system, you’ll be familiar with some of the issues – many caused by lengthy delays at every stage. The toll on the victims, on witnesses, on suspects and the defendants – innocent or not – is tremendous.

There is also an acute shortage of duty solicitors – and it’s not going to get any better. The reality is that 96% of duty solicitors are at least 35 years old and a quarter are over 50. It’s a hard truth that criminal defence work is no longer seen as a viable career for many. Legal aid rates – the cash from the public purse that pays defence solicitors – has stayed the same for almost 25 years.

It is predicted that the combined impact, within five years, may be areas of England and Wales where people who have been arrested will have no access to a duty solicitor. Justice continues to be delayed; victims and witnesses face long waits to give evidence; defendants languish in prison; and suspects’ lives are on hold while they await a decision on whether they will be charged.

Mark Bainbridge is Executive Director of the Lawyers’ Christian Fellowship. He says: ‘Justice matters to God whose very nature is justice. Time and again in Biblical history we see God’s concern for justice, particularly for the vulnerable and powerless – we see this chiefly at the Cross. Doing or seeking justice is therefore integral to how Christians demonstrate their love for God and their love for their neighbours.’

We are challenged through the Scriptures to uphold justice and to protect the vulnerable. Fundamental to the effective administration of justice is proper access to it within a reasonable timescale. Christians should be informed of these growing threats to the justice system and they should be very concerned.