Sir, As academics engaged in criminal justice research, we are concerned about the potentially devastating and irreversible consequences for access to justice if the Government’s plans to cut criminal legal aid and introduce a system of tendering based on price alone are introduced.
The lawyer-client relationship is at the heart of effective legal representation, but the current proposals remove client choice, replace local services with mega-suppliers and treat advice as an impersonal commodity. Trust is especially important for the large number of vulnerable accused: lawyers who know their clients can pre-empt difficult issues, provide (sometimes unpalatable) advice which is more likely to be accepted, and help the courts run more effectively and efficiently.
Underpinned by independent research and evaluation, considerable resources have been devoted to