A community Web site for criminal law solicitors has launched an on-line 'Say No To Carter' petition.

CriminalSolicitor.net is run by Southend-based Gavin Burrell. He said: 'I object to the Carter Review and the general manner in which the government is approaching the issue of reforming the criminal legal aid system. The proposals will merely serve to force the profession into a terminal decline that will adversely affect an accused person's right to free, independent and competent legal advice.'


So far responses have ranged from the brief - simply 'No Justice with Carter' from one solicitor - to some studied words from the bench. 'Once contracts are awarded, standards may well slip,' wrote one magistrate. 'Individual or very small unit practitioners would be out of the loop, yet they often provide the best, most sympathetic service to clients and courts alike.'


Link: www.criminalsolicitor.net/guestbook