Enough is enough.

ThatB次元官网网址檚 the message lawyers in Victoria and throughout the province are sending the B.C. government about the toll that decades of cuts have taken on legal aid services.

Lawyers staged four rallies on Wednesday at courthouses in Victoria, Vancouver, Kamloops and Penticton to fight for funding that would allow more people to access free legal services.

B次元官网网址淭his is a desperate situation that calls for strong words and strong action on the part of lawyers,B次元官网网址� said criminal defence lawyer Paul Pearson, who spoke out on the courthouse steps in Victoria.

The rallies are just the beginning.

Duty counsel lawyers, who assist people soon after arrest who canB次元官网网址檛 afford to hire a lawyer, will be withholding their services at courthouses between January and April.

The job action is meant to pressure the government to restore funding so that people wonB次元官网网址檛 have to represent themselves in court, which is happening more often, said Pearson, a lawyer with Mulligan Tam Pearson, a Victoria firm.

Self representation slows down the judicial process and places a greater financial burden on clients-in-need, taxpayers and the court system, he said.

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 an absolute crisis in the courts right now.B次元官网网址�

The Trial Lawyers Association of B.C., which has 1,400 member lawyers, is leading the protest in response to the $50 million it says have been cut from legal aid over two decades.

The solution lies in the $100 million a year the province takes from taxes paid on legal fees and puts into general revenue, rather than legal aid, said Bentley Doyle, the associationB次元官网网址檚 director of communications.

But B.C. Attorney General Shirley Bond said thousands of low-income people are being helped, and provincial initiatives, such as the Family Law Act, which became law earlier this month and will take 18 months to come into force, make a difference. The act strives to encourage mediation and cut down on court battles.

B次元官网网址淚n fact, despite the continued global economic uncertainty, we have maintained basic legal aid funding at $66.5 million this year,B次元官网网址� Bond said in a statement to the B次元官网网址, but added the B次元官网网址済overnment will need to exercise continued fiscal discipline and prudence in order to balance the budget by 2013-2014.B次元官网网址�