The Law Society and Bar Council have urged members of the House of Lords to approve amendments to the Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill. They want to ensure that government proposals to extend the remit of designated caseworkers are limited to summary only cases which do not carry a custodial sentence. Bar Council chairman Tim Dutton QC said: 'Using non-legally qualified lay people to conduct prosecutions in trials which could end in imprisonment could place the public's confidence in doubt, and result in longer trials and more appeals'.