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Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill

My Lords, having listened to what we have heard in connection with these amendments, it occurs to me, first, that, for some reason which is no doubt clear to some, ““exceptional”” is used in order to be defined, so the exceptional quality does not come into the definition of exceptional cases. My second point is that, although ““the interests of justice”” is a rather general and vague subject, on the other hand if you turn it round and say that the director, before he allowed this ground to prevail, had to be satisfied that there was a real risk of injustice unless legal aid was granted in a particular case, that would focus on the issue in the case in a more distinct and direct way than the phrase ““the interests of justice””, which has been used in many contexts in the past. I agree that, on the whole, it is a vague phrase, but turning it round might make it a little more attractive to my noble and learned friend.