Justice For Sale': An Empirical Examination of the Attitudes of Criminal Defence Lawyers Towards Legal Aid Reform

Authors

Tom Smith

Document Type

Article

Abstract

This article discusses empirical fieldwork undertaken at the 'Justice For Sale' meeting of criminal defence lawyers, in May 2013. The fieldwork aimed to explore the views of defence lawyers in relation to the ongoing programme of reforms in their area of practice – particularly those launched by the 'Transforming Legal Aid' consultation in April 2013. Combining quantitative and qualitative methods, the fieldwork asked respondents about price-competitive tendering (PCT), client choice, QASA, direct action, their relationship with the Government and the impact the reforms would have on the service provided to suspects and defendants. The article examines the data collected and its meaning, identifying patterns in the responses provided. It concludes by discussing developments in the area since the fieldwork, and speculating on the next steps that may be taken by the criminal defence community in this year of significant change for criminal legal aid.

Publication Date

2014-01-01

Publication Title

The Plymouth Law & Criminal Justice Review

Volume

6

Issue

1

First Page

14

Last Page

40

ISSN

2054-149X

Deposit Date

March 2017

Embargo Period

2024-11-01

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Recommended Citation

Smith, Tom (2014) "Justice For Sale': An Empirical Examination of the Attitudes of Criminal Defence Lawyers Towards Legal Aid Reform," The Plymouth Law and Criminal Justice Review: Vol. 6, Article 10.
Available at: https://pearl.plymouth.ac.uk/plcjr/vol6/iss1/10