The Law society say they ‘aren’t surprised’ that victims have lost confidence in the UK justice system.
Victims are no longer reporting some crimes to police because so many offenders are ‘never brought to justice’.
A new report, external said the public are losing faith in the criminal justice system and have “rumbled” that police do not have the capacity to investigate.
The constabulary inspector said a suspect was charged in just 7.8 per cent of crimes in England and Wales in the year to March 2019.
The Home Office said action should be taken if forces are not performing.
It came as a report by the spending watchdog warned the government could run out of prison places in two years because of tougher sentencing measures, combined with a drive to recruit 20,000 police officers.
The National Audit Office (NAO) said ministers have failed to deliver a promised 10,000 new prisoner places.
But the Ministry of Justice said it would “always have enough prison places”.
“It is disappointing but unfortunately not surprising that victim confidence in the criminal justice system is so low,” said Law Society of England and Wales president Nick Emmerson.
“Decades of devastating cuts and underfunding have left the system on the brink of collapse.
“Victims, witnesses and defendants are left in limbo for years waiting for trials to come to court because of the huge backlog of cases. Some courtrooms are crumbling, there are not enough lawyers and judges and prisons and probation are overwhelmed.
“We want UK government to work proactively to protect and secure access to justice and make our justice system a source of pride again.”
