DPP: Lord Goldsmith defends selection of Ken Macdonald from 'cronyism' charge

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is to launch a duty scheme aimed at enabling its lawyers to provide advice to the police around the clock, seven days a week.

The CPS Direct pilot will initially see ten duty lawyers in three CPS areas - Humberside, West Yorkshire and parts of London - seconded for three months from September to provide evening telephone advice from home.

If the scheme is successful, it will be extended next year to cover all 42 CPS areas between 8pm and 8am.

Lawyers taking part will receive an extra premium of between 25% and 33% of their hourly rates, depending on which shift they work.

CPS Direct follows on from plans to give prosecution lawyers more of a role in charging suspects.

A CPS spokeswoman said 24-hour legal advice should enable the police to make speedier decisions and remove the need to bail the suspect back to the police station when a lawyer is unavailable, but stressed that its priority is still providing face-to-face advice.

A Law Society spokeswoman said: 'We support closer involvement of the Crown Prosecution Service in the charging process, and we to be effective this must be effective, it must be round the clock.

However, we have some concerns about the knock-on effect this scheme could have on the availability of trained, experienced lawyers to conduct cases in the courts.

Therefore, we believe that this pilot scheme must be evaluated carefully for impact.'

Meanwhile, Attorney-General Lord Goldsmith has hit back at allegations of 'cronyism' in the appointment of the new Director of Public Prosecutions, Ken Macdonald QC.

Mr Macdonald, who will take over from Sir David Calvert-Smith QC in the autumn, is chairman of the Criminal Bar Association, a leading criminal defence lawyer and co-founder of specialist human rights-focused Matrix chambers, which counts Prime Minister's wife Cherie Booth QC among its members.

Lord Goldsmith denied that the choice was down to any links with Ms Booth, saying: 'He was identified in an open and public process as the best candidate.'

Paula Rohan