In defence

I note with regret (as I imagine many defence solicitors will) that the House of Commons public accounts committee seems to think that there is some form of adjournment culture among defence solicitors (see [2000] Gazette, 13 July, 4).The statistic that 23% of adjournments are the responsibility of a defendant or the defence solicitor has I am sure been published previously.

I am surprised, however, that the committee did not think it more sensible to criticise whoever is responsible for the balance of 77% of the adjournments.

I presume those statistics have been analysed and, from my experience of more than 20 years of defence work, I anticipate that the majority of the adjournments will be caused by the Crown Prosecution Service, which is frequently awaiting papers from the police.I also presume that the public accounts committee realises that, especially when working on standard fees, the last thing a defence solicitor really wants is an adjournment - the work is more cost effective if it can be done as quickly as possible.

William Fraser, Fraser Wise & Co, Grantham, Lincolnshire