The courts should be beacons in upholding the rule of law and ensuring access to justice for all writes…Richard Susskind
It is time for the leaders of the legal profession to look beyond their terms of office.
In The Times today, I write about the challenges and opportunities facing our courts and English law, I call for more long-term planning from leaders, and float the idea – that we're working on at @LegalUK_ – of a National Institute for Legal Innovation – https://t.co/6K4MsXRHkJ
— Richard Susskind (@richardsusskind) November 25, 2021
The court system in England and Wales is creaking and its vital signs are worrying — there is a mounting backlog of serious criminal cases and a civil process that is inaccessible to most citizens. Although large law firms are prospering, in-house lawyers are struggling because of increasing workloads and shrinking budgets. Smaller businesses cannot afford most legal services and too many law schools are dispensing graduates better equipped for the 20th century than this one.
Not everything is grim. Last month a report commissioned by LegalUK, a group that promotes English law, showed that English law is a national treasure that underpins hundreds of trillions of pounds
