Legal aid cut 'threatens justice'

Ministers says England and Wales have a "generous" legal aid system

Miscarriages of justice are likely to result from proposals to reduce legal aid fees to barristers, the chairman of the Bar Council has warned.

Desmond Browne QC said cutting defence barristers' fees by up to 23% would drive away experienced advocates from criminal trials in England and Wales.

The Ministry of Justice says the cuts would prevent any incentive to favour defence work over prosecution work.

The legal aid system currently costs taxpayers £2bn a year.

The government says England and Wales have one of the most "generous" systems of legal aid in the world.

Ministers want to make savings by reducing defence barristers' fees to bring them more into line with prosecutors' fees.

However, Mr Browne says the profession is united in its opposition to the planned reductions, which he describes as "swingeing cuts".

His comments are expected to form the basis of his speech at the annual Bar Council conference, in London, later on Saturday.

He says experienced barristers will be deterred from taking on publicly-funded criminal work, leading to "poorer quality" advocacy.

This in turn would, he says, increase the chances that guilty people will be acquitted and those who are innocent will be convicted.