Ministry of Justice plans to protect quality advocacy welcomed by the Bar Council
The Bar Council has welcomed Ministry of Justices consultation, Preserving and Enhancing the Quality of Criminal Advocacy, which was published today.
Measures in the consultation include advocacy panels and plans to ensure that clients have a genuine choice of advocate.
Alistair MacDonald QC, Chairman of the Bar, said:
“We have been calling for an effective ban on referral fees for some time. We welcome these proposals to preserve and enhance the quality of criminal advocacy, for which we and others (including Sir Bill Jeffrey) have been calling for some time.
“We shall study the proposals very carefully including the proposal to introduce a panel for publicly funded advocacy. Any such panel will need to be independent of government if it is to satisfy the public interest and command the support of the legal profession. The Bar will be constructively engaged in the consultation on these important proposals.”
