There's something of the dandy in Labour's legal affairs spokesman Paul Boateng, the former Birnberg's solicitor who turned barrister in 1989, parading as he does a suit that, in cockneyspeak, would fall into the 'tasty whistle' category.But the MP for Brent South fervently denies he has been 'Folletted' - a reference to the many makeovers of Labour members by the stylist Barbara Follett, wife of the author Ken Follett.He is also at pains to rebutt any suggestion that Labour's legal and home affairs teams has been falling down on the job of opposition.For it has been a persistent theme among observers of John Smith's leadership that the party has lacked the conviction-politics passion of the Kinnock era.Add to that the fact that recent government U-turns, most notably on the Police and Magistrates' Courts Bill, have been precipitated either in the Lords or by Tory grandees, and the party has the makings of a credibility probl em.No, says Mr Boateng, 'I don't accept the criticism that, on constitutional and legal affairs Labour has been quiet.'He stakes a claim, for example, to having been the first to bring magistrates' and justices' clerks' concerns about the reforms to the corridors of the Palace of Westminster.Indeed, the former GLC councillor - along with his fellow spokesman in the Lords, Lord Irvine of Lairg QC - is keen to put Labour on the offensive when it comes to legal affairs.The Lord Chancellor's Department has, he says, failed to recognise the 'crisis of confidence' of victims of crime in the court system.'It's nothing short of scandalous - enormous energies and money are spent meeting the needs and concerns of the professional users of our courts,' Mr Boateng points out.Witnesses and victims, on the other hand, are forced to slum it in the same court facilities as the alleged perpetrators of the crimes that have shattered their lives.He pledges separate provision - in terms of catering, entrances, and court seating - for witnesses and victims.On the civil justice front, Mr Boateng claims - and this is something he hopes to back up in a briefing to be given by civil service unions in the Commons tomorrow - that the county court process is 'grinding to a standstill'.His answer would be to inject relatively small sums into court-based advice schemes aimed at small claimants and litigants in person with a view to saving public funds by smoothing out delays.Meanwhile, the crunch issue in public policy terms for the professions at the moment is legal aid.

And, while he is quick to slap the Law Society on the back for all its 'save legal aid' efforts, Mr Boateng nonetheless makes all the right Smithite noises on the subject.'The greatest challenge to the professions', he says, 'is recognising that the legal aid budget is not capable of infinite growth.'But, it has to be granted, the former opposition Treasury spokesman is looking for some holistic solutions to cracking the riddle of making legal services affordable and accessible to the public, both as user and taxpayer.He hits familiar themes of more alternative dispute resolution, a greater role for mediation, the increased use of paralegals and the potential for a salaried legal service, structured around an extended law centres movement (he himself spent three years as a solicitor at the Paddington Law Centre in west London in the late 1970s).But the bottom line answer to making sure that ordinary people have access to legal advice under a Labour government may prove to be a form of mandatory pro bono 'national service' for lawyers as a condition of practice, though Mr Boateng is at pains not to say so in words of one syllable.'The profession needs to be prepared to think the unthinkable...

what are the pro bono responsibilities of the large and medium-sized City and private firms?' he asks.'It is quite wrong that there should be a section of the legal profession that makes no contribution at all, apart form direct taxation, to the traditional duty and responsibility of lawyers as a profession to the proper and equitable administration of justice.'I expect them to live up to that moral obligation and a Labour government will provide a framework for them to do so - and I am deadly serious about that,' he cautions.Mr Boateng also takes it further.

Alarm about the growing proportion of funds swallowed by criminal legal aid at the expense of civil legal aid prompts the pledge of a 'comprehensive review' of the system.'If we are not proactive, then we are oblige d to be reactive to the Treasury, and I don't want that to happen.

I don't want, as an incoming Minister of Justice, to find myself in a position in which the Treasury calls the shots,' he says, in a reference to the legal affairs team's grand project, the rather comic-book sounding Ministry of Justice.The latter will be the subject of a major policy paper from the party in the next 12 to 18 months, in which it will be revealed just how committed Mr Boateng is to overturning the woolsack.The paper will answer one of two burning questions that remain for the 42-year-old MP: can his stream of policy consciousness be made to coalesce into a coherent policy whole?The other question, probably more serious for Mr Boateng, is just how big will be the appetite of an incoming Labour government for 'feel good' spending on health, social welfare and education, at the expense of a fledgling justice ministry.In any event, as law and justice continue to occupy pole positions on the political agenda, both the public and the professions will await the Boateng proposals with what can only be heightening interest.