It is terribly ironic that ministers are "paying lip service" to the principles of Magna Carta in year the charter's 800th anniversary is being celebrated, a leading barrister said.
Alistair MacDonald QC, Chairman of the Bar Council - which represents barristers in England and Wales, said Magna Carta provided a "guarantee of access to justice".
But he said Government cuts in the provision of legal aid struck at the "very substance" of that promise.
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Mr MacDonald has made criticisms when writing in legal magazine Counsel.