18 Mar. 2010. – 22:13:50
The Crown Prosecution Service has announced that it plans to deploy Associate Prosecutors formally known as Designated Case Workers to prosecute at summary trials at Magistrates` Courts. These individuals were not and are not qualified lawyers. When they began work some few years ago in remand courts, dealing amongst other things with bail applications and sentencing we were told they would not be involved in trials where in addition to legal and procedural knowledge the art of advocacy is of major importance.
Think back a few years when nurses` leaders began the push for their new applicants to be graduates and that the messy business of dealing with patients` actual physical and bodily requirements could be undertaken by lower or virtually unqualified auxiliaries. Who heard of teaching assistants actually taking classes fifteen or so years ago? Police Community Support Officers are on the streets where many would argue trained police officers should be. The educational requirements for PCSOs are very low but so are their wages. And there you have it. Powers that be sniff out jobs which they believe do not need high paid well trained personnel. And so to the courts. With the sorry story of the Crown Prosecution Service in London and a surplus of unemployed lawyers it seems ridiculous to infuse this mess with staff not legally qualified however eager they might be. They will be regulated by IPS, a regulatory company established by ILEX to take responsibility for the regulation of Legal Executives. ILEX is the professional body representing 22,000 qualified and trainee Legal Executives and is an Approved Regulator under the terms of the Legal Services Act 2007.
As many doctors have commented on nurse prescribers taking many primary care functions; if they want to do these tasks let them study medicine. Not surprisingly IPS chief executive Ian Watson said the standard was sufficient to ensure competence. Legal Aid is available to provide legal representation for defendants under certain conditions. This does not extend to legal executives being paid by the state to defend miscreants. The only justification for this lowering of standards is not to provide a high class service but to save money. But don`t wait for any member of the government to admit this. And the bosses at CPS are like service men and women; they will do their jobs as well as they can and keep their criticism until they are no longer in harness. Haven`t we heard similar previously from senior policemen, ex chairmen of this or that quango, former generals and of course former cabinet members. Plus ca change..............
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