The way Britain administers justice is set for a radical overhaul, the prime minister has signalled.

Just days ahead of the Queen's Speech, Tony Blair used an article in The Observer to claim the criminal justice system is out of date and bias too far in favour of criminals.

Blair, himself a former lawyer, said Britain was grappling with a "19th-century criminal justice system trying to solve 21st century crimes".

He damned the current system for having cumbersome procedures and the lack of "joined-up working" between the police and prosecutors.

Blair said currently "justice weighted towards the criminal and in need of rebalancing towards the victim".

"The reality is that people do not feel secure and they know the system is not yet working as it should."

He hinted this week's Queen's Speech include announcements of plans to overhaul police and court procedures.

"The theme of rights and responsibilities will be central to the Queen's Speech. We are putting behind us the narrow, selfish individualism of the 1980s, but also the 1945 'big state' that wrongly believed it could solve every social problem," Blair wrote.

There will also be a shift in priorities away from education to crime in deprived areas.

"Crime and anti-social behaviour is a Labour issue. In many of the poorest parts of Britain, in many traditional Labour areas, it is the issue.

"However much schools and hospitals improve, if people walk out of their doors and are confronted by abuse, vandalism, anti-social behaviour, they will never feel secure or able to take advantage of new opportunities."