Lord Hodge told the Lords Constitution Committee that persistent problems weaken “our sell of the UK as a successful rule of law society”. He appeared alongside President of the Supreme Court Lord Reed, who noted that in areas such as family law, the cost of legal proceedings can create significant barriers to justice.

Asked whether he considered access to justice an actual threat rather than a potential one, Lord Reed replied: “In some areas of practice, I think it is an actual threat.

“For example, if you’re a rape complainant, and the trial is being fixed for 2028, then, you know, either you have a terrible strain hanging over you for years, or you decide that it’s not worth it and just give up.”

Lord Hodge said: “We’re acutely aware of the access to justice issue, and in our outreach work presenting the UK as a rule of law society, we’re also aware that if the problem persists, it weakens our sell of the UK as a successful rule of law society.”

The commercial courts, he said, provide an “excellent service” because cases are well-funded. But areas such as housing and family law suffer from a lack of group funding.

Though responsibility for these courts rests with the lady chief justice, he said: “I think all we can do is speak out in our extrajudicial lectures to warn of the real threat to access to justice and its wider impact on the UK’s reputation.”

Lord Reed said he raised the backlog issue with international colleagues a fortnight ago, when asked about how the UK courts function.

“I explained that there were problems with long backlogs, and people were very surprised to hear that,” he said.

Lord Hodge added: “So I think there is a real danger to Britain’s reputation internationally if these problems aren’t tackled, but neither Lord Reed nor I have any official locus beyond what we can say in lectures and things of that nature.”