Lady Hale

“I know how intimidating the civil and family courts can be for people without legal knowledge of help,” Lady Hale, patron of the Personal Support Unit, told listeners of the Radio 4 Appeal, a BBC programme which sees famous people ask for donations to charities.

“Everyone deserves access to justice whether or not they can afford a lawyer.”

She spoke of a woman helped by the legal advice charity after she became involved in a family court spat with a former partner.

Cuts made since 2012 have reduced funding – by about £950 million a year – resulting in a sharp rise in litigants in person.

The number of people granted legal aid has declined by 80 per cent in eight years.

A year ago, former senior family court judge, Sir James Munby, said: “The fact is that we have far more litigants in person in the family courts now than we did.”

He added: “The problem is in private law cases, that is cases where the disputes are within the family, not between the family and the local authority, and by and large legal aid is no longer available for private law cases unless there’s been an allegation and evidence of domestic violence.

“The consequence has been that very large numbers of people are now coming to court without representation.”