Sir Anthony Hooper tells the Express that legal aid cuts will be "costly and potentially disastrous" and will lead to miscarriages of justice
The former High Court judge Sir Anthony Hooper has spoken publicly on the planned legal aid reforms for the first time since his retirement, the Express reported on Sunday.
Sir Anthony warned that the reforms will be "costly and potentially disastrous" and will be "absolutely devastating" for Britain's legal system.
The Express quoted him as saying: "The purpose of our criminal justice system is to acquit the innocent and convict the guilty. This requires a competent prosecutor, competent defence advocate and competent judge. If you take any of these elements away, the results will be costly and potentially disastrous, with innocent people being convicted and potentially dangerous individuals wrongly acquitted."
He continued: "These reforms will be absolutely devastating for the justice system as we know it. They will lead to many problems, certainly to miscarriages of justice. You will see more appeals in the longer term."
According to the Express, Sir Anthony said that it is difficult for serving judges to be critical of Government policies, but he has spoken with them and they are extremely concerned.
Sir Anthony warned that the proposals to auction off criminal defence work to the lowest bidder were a case of "abandoning quality and replacing it with the lowest bid."
"We have already seen what has happened when the Government appointed a single company to provide all the interpreters for courts around the country. It has not worked," he told the Express.
Meanwhile the Guardian reported today that more than 70% of the public fear that further cuts to legal aid could result in innocent people being convicted of crimes they did not commit, according to an opinion poll released by the Bar Council.
Maura McGowan QC, chairman of the bar, told the Guardian: "The Ministry of Justice should listen to what people are saying and the strong messages delivered by this poll. The public thinks a properly funded legal aid system is a price worth paying for living in a fair society; this is not just the view of groups of lawyers."
In an interview with the Law Gazette, the Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor, Chris Grayling, said that the reform of legal aid and the introduction of schemes such as price-competitive tendering in criminal cases were not an ideological choice, but a financial necessity due to "very tough financial circumstances".