Criminal defence solicitors have this week warned that government plans to introduce means testing for legal aid in crime cases could reduce access to justice and collide with plans to bring in competitive tendering.

Launching its Criminal Defence Service Bill this week, the Department for Constitutional Affairs said it hoped to save £35 million by making people pay for their own defence solicitors.


People earning less than £15,000 would still qualify for legal aid, while those earning between £15,000-£27,500 would be assessed according to their means. Anyone on more than £27,500 would have to pay for themselves. They would also have to fulfil an 'interests of justice test' to qualify, which would mainly cover defendants who are charged with an imprisonable offence. The new laws would also see the administration of legal aid funding transferred to the Legal Services Commission.


Legal aid minister Bridget Prentice said: '[The CDS Bill] will ensure that the cost of criminal legal aid does not continue to erode the civil legal aid scheme.'


But Rodney Warren, director of the Criminal Law Solicitors Association, said it was concerned about the lack of research over people being denied legal aid through the changes.


'While we support the concept that those who can pay should pay, the government has given no clear indication of how many people will be no longer entitled to legal aid,' he warned. 'We don't know how this sits with the proposals for competitive tendering, where firms will have no idea of how many cases they can expect to take on.'