SUPREME Court President Lady Hale slammed the government’s devastating cuts to legal aid today. 

She said the cuts, which were rolled out in England and Wales in 2013 by the Tory-Lib Dem coalition government, had caused “serious difficulties” to the justice system. 

Baroness Hale, who will retire next month at the age of 70, said the problems were particularly evident in family courts.  

“It’s unreasonable to expect a husband and wife or mother and father who are in crisis in their personal relationship to make their own arrangements without help,” she told BBC Radio 4. 

Without representation, many parents have been forced to give up fighting for custody of their children, a Guardian investigation found last year. 

Baroness Hale said that the difficulties came from “a lack of initial advice and help” that can prevent more serious problems arising later down the line. 

For example, someone who doesn’t receive legal advice on a simple and resolvable benefit problem can go on to lose their home, she explained. 

As a result of the cuts, hundreds of thousands of people have been denied access to justice in areas such as housing, debt, employment, clinical negligence, immigration, welfare payments and education.

“I don’t think that anybody who has anything to do with the justice system of England and Wales could fail to be concerned about the problems which the reduction in resources in several directions has caused for the system as a whole,” Baroness Hale added. 

Labour MP David Lammy backed her comments, writing on Twitter that family courts were in an “abysmal” state.

“Lady Hale is absolutely right to speak out about cuts to legal aid that have left families already in crisis struggling to make their own arrangements and represent themselves,” he tweeted. 

In 2012, the Tory-Lib Dem coalition introduced the changes in its Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders (Lapso) Act, which was aimed at saving £350 million a year.

The changes have been fiercely challenged by human rights and legal groups. 

Amnesty International argues that the cuts have created a “two-tier justice system,” with access to justice only granted to those who can afford it. 

Last year, the Criminal Bar Association, which represents over 4,000 criminal lawyers, urged its members to go on strike over “relentless” cuts to legal aid that have left the justice system in a “desperate state.”