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Written question asked by Stuart Bell (Labour) on Tuesday, 8 December 2009, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 14 December 2009. It was answered by Bridget Prentice (Labour) on Monday, 14 December 2009 on behalf of the Ministry of Justice.

Crown Courts

Question
(2) what his policy is on the provision of criminal litigation support and advocacy services in respect of a case in the Crown Court by the same firm of solicitors; and what value for money assessment has been made of that practice;
Answer

With the exception of some advocates on Very High Cost (Crime) Cases, the Legal Services Commission (LSC) does not directly contract with advocates for the provision of advocacy services in the Crown court. The LSC is currently consulting on changes to the way that it procures advocacy services for high cost criminal cases. Currently there are sufficient advocates of appropriate quality to meet the needs of the Criminal Defence Service.Solicitor advocates must pass through an appropriate accreditation scheme before they are able to appear in the Crown court. The aim of this is to ensure that they achieve an equivalent level of skills to barristers. It is also the case that solicitor advocates and barristers—whether employed or self-employed—are under a professional obligation only to take on cases for which they are suitably experienced and qualified.In commissioning defence and other services, the LSC needs to be able to rely on suitable standards and accreditation to provide assurance as to the quality and value for money of the services it is buying. MOJ and the LSC have spent three years working with the professional bodies, the senior judiciary and the Crown Prosecution Service to develop a quality assurance scheme for all advocates as recognition of the significant change in those now permitted to partake in advocacy. In the longer term, the Quality Assurance of Advocates scheme (QAA) which is currently being developed may become a contractual requirement for all advocates wishing to undertake publicly funded advocacy.Advocates, whether solicitor advocates or barristers, are not involved in advising clients during investigations prior to charge. If a litigator advises his client to remain silent during interview, then that is a matter of professional judgment at that time with no bearing on any decision to instruct an in-house advocate or independent counsel if the client is subsequently charged.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
502 c791-2W; 306378
Session
2009-10
Subjects
Crown Court
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk