Judges are to be given powers to remove a defendant's solicitor or barrister if they think the lawyer has taken on too many cases or has a conflict of interest, under government proposals published last week.



The plans will apply to very high-cost cases and follow concerns raised by the home affairs select committee that solicitors had been acting for too many defendants in terror cases.



Under the proposals, the court could order a lawyer to withdraw where the judge considered that the legal adviser 'lacks sufficient capacity to represent their client', or where there is a risk of conflict of interest. The defendant would have up to three weeks to find a new lawyer, normally from a different firm.



Solicitors expressed mixed views about the proposals. Rob Brown, executive officer of the London Criminal Courts Solicitors Association, said that judges could be trusted to make sensible decisions and act in the interests of a fair trial, and that this was preferable to a government agency being given the power to order new lawyers.



However, Rodney Warren, director of the Criminal Law Solicitors Association, said: 'I am not satisfied that a judge will be able to assess capacity in terms of workload or deal with conflicts issues without a breach of privilege.'



A Law Society spokeswoman said: 'Solicitors are well versed in making decisions in line with their professional duties, which includes not acting where there is a conflict of interest. It is incorrect to assume that a firm representing more than one client is necessarily breaching conflict rules.'



Rachel Rothwell