Reactionary_Straw_draws_lawyers_furyBy Sue Allen and Neil Rose Speaking at a crime reduction conference in Cambridge, Mr Straw was quoted by the BBC as saying that lawyers responsibilities to society were forgotten in...Speaking at a crime reduction conference in Cambridge, Mr Straw was quoted by the BBC as saying that lawyers responsibilities to society were forgotten in an eagerness to protect their niche markets with the local criminal fraternity.In the latest in a series of attacks on fellow lawyers over the past few years, he also said he feared lawyers would soon outnumber police officers.

The reason why there are so many lawyers in our society...

is because lawyers never agree, except about taking money off clients.Law Society President Michael Napier said he was astonished by the inaccurate picture Mr Straw painted.

There are in fact only about 11,300 solicitors who represent people accused of crimes, compared with 125,000 police officers.

Mr Straws comments totally misrepresent the work of the legal profession, who undertake a wide range of work from dedicated lawyers working within the Community Legal Service to international lawyers helping the countrys exports.Bar Council chairman Roy Amlot QC said Mr Straws remarks betray some dangerous and reactionary attitudes towards the justice system, adding that these constant and unedifying attacks on defence lawyers are particularly ill-timed given recent high-profile miscarriages of justice.Mr Amlot said the sentiments were dark and disturbing, showing too much emphasis on obtaining convictions regardless of their safety by urging prosecutors to be more bullying and allowing potentially irrelevant previous convictions to be revealed to juries.Mr Straws comments followed the governments criminal justice review, which, to the anger of criminal practitioners, suggested that magistrates and juries might be told about defendants previous convictions in an attempt to target persistent offenders.Earlier this week, Mr Straw said existing legislation meant that previous convictions were rarely taken into account and that it was ridiculous to have an individual price tags for crimes no matter how often they were committed.Franklin Sinclair, chairman of the Criminal Law Solicitors Association, said a move towards telling juries of previous convictions was most unwelcome.

If we start relaxing the rules then there is a real danger that juries will convict on bad character.Criminal practitioners can also expect to see the codification of criminal law into a single backpocket volume.

Other suggested reforms would see fuller defence disclosure , such as lists of witnesses and experts, a review of much-criticised procedures for disclosing unused prosecution material, and a prosecutors right of appeal against adverse judicial findings in an attempt to reduce the number of cases prematurely dismissed by the courts.