LSC PLAN: over-the-phone service for less serious offences


Solicitors have slammed plans to give own clients held in police stations legal advice over the telephone under plans to roll out an extended Criminal Defence Service (CDS) Direct nationally from next spring.



The Legal Services Commission (LSC) announced that from October 2007, people detained in police stations in the Greater Manchester, West Midlands and West Yorkshire criminal justice areas will receive legal advice through CDS Direct on all less serious offences. The LSC will monitor and refine the service before it is delivered to the rest of England and Wales the following year.



CDS Direct has been in operation nationally for less serious duty solicitor work since October 2005, but this extends the scheme to cover 'own client' work as well.



Carolyn Regan, LSC chief executive, said the move would ensure that people 'are not detained unnecessarily, reduce the burden on criminal defence solicitors and provide better value for money to tax payers'.



She said CDS Direct saved £4 million a year and the extension could save a further £4 million a year.



Law Society chief executive Des Hudson said: 'We do not accept the proposal that own-client work in telephone-only cases should be dealt with by CDS Direct. This restriction represents a further attack on the sustainability of criminal legal aid practitioners. It could cause unnecessary complications and extend the time taken to deal with these cases. Access to a known and trusted adviser could, in the long term, better serve the interest of justice, police time and public funds.



'The additional time involved in actually contacting the client's solicitor may result in clients being persuaded by the police that it is not necessary to wait for legal advice, which could lead to people being convicted or cautioned incorrectly.'



Ian Kelcey, chairman of the Criminal Law Solicitors Association, said: 'I don't know why the LSC bothers with consultations when they just ignore everything anybody says.



'This idea is ill-thought out, no consideration has been given to the distinction between the privately paying client and the legally aided client, and we're concerned, and would ask the LSC to guarantee, that they'll only use this for the less serious offences. There's a very real fear within the profession that this will, in due course, lead to a complete dumbing down of the advice at police stations.'



Catherine Baksi