Defending quality

A well-funded private practising sector will offer protection against over-working the public defenders

Popular images of public defenders are not good.

Based on US models, they vary from the committed, but overworked, inexperienced young lawyer to the clapped-out old codger falling asleep during his client's murder trial.The release this week of a report by the civil liberties group Justice highlights the US experience and should provide some useful warnings for the government in this country as it launches pilots of the criminal defence service.The main messages are that funding and independence will be crucial to the success of any salaried defence service.

Without proper levels of the former to ensure protection against case overload, the whole scheme will undoubtedly be doomed to failure.

The latter must be insured at several levels: a strong and independent Legal Services Commission to act as a buffer between the salaried defenders and the government, augmented by an independent head of the public defender service itself.Equally important is the continuation of a well-funded private practising sector to operate in parallel with public defender service.

This, too, will offer a protection against over-working the public defenders.Perhaps more importantly, it will guarantee a choice of representative for clients.

But the launch of the CDS comes as we report on the difficulties created by the contracting scheme for criminal specialist practitioners (see page 30).

If firms are forced out of business, then the question of choice will become academic.

Both the public and the profession need to be reassured that public defenders will not be pushed forward at the expense of private practice.