Justice on the cheap?

BBC Radio 4's Law In Action Tuesday 09 October 1600 GMT On Radio 4 and online

Law in Action examines the growing use of non-lawyers at the heart of our criminal justice system. Do they represent justice on the cheap or a wise use of public money?

Are protections enshrined in the Police and Criminal Evidence Act being undermined?

It is the right of every person arrested and held in custody in a police station to consult a solicitor.

That fundamental protection was laid out in the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984.

That Act substantially increased police powers and the right to see a solicitor was generally regarded as an important counterweight.

For the last two years there's been a little known pilot scheme run by the Criminal Defence Service or CDS.

Called 'CDS Direct' it means that people arrested for minor offences and placed in custody will be put through to a call centre to speak to an adviser - who won't be a qualified lawyer.

It's already enraged solicitors and it's set to be rolled out nationally in February.

Law in Action brought together Robert Brown, a partner at Corker Binning and John Sirodcar, Head of Direct Services for the Legal Services Commission, the body that oversees CDS Direct, to discuss the developments.

Crown Prosecution Service Designated Case Workers

New powers for CPS Designated Case Workers?

The Crown Prosecution Service want to extend the role and remit of Designated Case Worker or DCW's.

They're not qualified lawyers yet since 1998 the Director of Public Prosecutions has allowed them to prepare and present a limited range of simple cases where defendants plead guilty in Magistrates Courts.

But that could all about be to change.

The Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill gets its second reading in Parliament this week.

If it becomes law, DCW's are to be given wider powers to prosecute people who plead not guilty.

They'll also be able to run more serious cases, including assaults, drugs, public order, thefts and driving offences.

Are these prosecution case workers a cheap and sub-standard alternative to professionally qualified lawyers? Or are they a useful resource in the running our criminal justice system?

Clive went to the CPS office in Croydon to spend an afternoon with two of them to find out more.

Sir Ken MacDonald tells Clive Coleman about the new role of Designated Case Workers

The programme also talked to Andrew Holroyd, President of the Law Society of England and Wales and then to the Director of Public Prosecutions, Sir Ken McDonald QC about why he thought the extension of powers to DCW's is a good idea.