Select committee: Justice Committee
Conclusion 4
3rd Report – Access to Justice: Legal Aid
Published 17 Jul 2026
Addressed to Ministry of Justice
Justice Committee Access to Justice All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
The full extent of self-representation for imprisonable offences in the magistrates’ court is not well understood because the government does not publish reliable data. Best available estimates suggest it could be as high as 50%, which creates an unacceptably high risk of miscarriages of justice. (Conclusion, Paragraph 23)
From: Justice Committee, 3rd Report – Access to Justice: Legal Aid (HC 541), 17 July 2026
Government response
No government response linked yet: deadline 15 October 2026, 17 days ago.