Criminal lawyers rap 'erosion of defendants' rights'

Criminal defence lawyers have this week hit out at controversial government proposals to reform the criminal justice regime, accusing it of paying lip-service to the rights of the defendant, pandering to the media, and ignoring the real problems that exist within the system.

Launching the Criminal Justice Bill last week, the government made clear its determination to push ahead with measures, including disclosure of previous convictions and ending the double jeopardy rule for 30 'serious' offences.

It also proposed limiting the right to jury trial in cases where the defendant has requested a judge-alone trial, where complex or lengthy financial and commercial arrangements are the issue and where there is a serious risk of jury intimidation.

The Bill also doubles the sentencing power of magistrates to 12 months and gives the prosecution the right to appeal against bail for all imprisonable offences.

But Sandy Morrison, chairman of the Criminal Law Solicitors Association, said restricting the right to jury trial and disclosing previous convictions eroded defendants' rights.

He called on the government to focus more on the fact that just one in five crimes are reported.

'[The government] should be looking at the policing aspect and not the judicial aspect, but that wouldn't make good headlines and would cost too much money,' Mr Morrison complained.

'It is paying lip service to preserving the rights of the innocent defendant and damaging the criminal justice system just to pander to the press.

This is further regulation imposed by an already oppressive state.'

A Law Society spokeswoman said: 'The Society is keen to work with the government and we hope it will listen to the experiences of solicitors who work day-to-day in the criminal justice system.

Although we support many proposals in the Bill, we have big concerns about others.

In particular, we fear that proposals on disclosure of previous convictions and provisions for defence disclosure may encourage a "round-up of the usual suspects" culture to flourish.'

Paula Rohan