Gove continues smoke and mirrors charm offensive

The Lord Chancellor, Michael Gove, has continued his charm offensive towards the barrister profession by reiterating his commitment to maintaining high quality advocacy and 'a healthy and vibrant Bar' in the criminal courts that would 'refresh the ranks of the judiciary'.

Speaking at Mansion House last night, the justice secretary said he was looking forward to implementing the findings of the Jeffrey's report as well as taking swift action to deal with 'market failures which create incentives for the abuse of the system'.

Gove told judges he was aware of concerns about inappropriate payments of referral fees in criminal proceedings which he declared would not be tolerated.

'Part of this will be about taking steps to make sure that in every case, the advocate has been instructed because they are the right person for the job, and not because of their relationship with the instructing solicitor,' he remarked.

'Where public money is being used to fund such a vital service as ensuring fair trials before our courts, I want to be sure that every penny is spent on delivering that service. I am also aware that there are concerns about inappropriate payments between parties. That is not something I will tolerate. Work should go to the advocate most qualified for the job, not to the highest bidder.'

This work will not be easy, but it is necessary - to ensure that the traditions we celebrate tonight - and which our judges incarnate - our belief in the rule of law and our commitment to liberty - can continue to flourish.

Many will see this latest speech by the Lord Chancellor to be his last attempt to divide and rule criminal law practitioners ahead of the Criminal Bar Association's (CBA) key vote on direct action set for next Tuesday.

Gove also announced plans to close two Welsh magistrates' courts - Abergavenny and Caerphilly - which the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) does not believe is being used to capacity. The justice secretary said savings could be made by moving those courts' workloads to Newport and Cwmbran.

President of the London Criminal Courts Solicitors' Association (LCCSA), Jonathan Black, said: 'There is something very worrying about the tone of his speech, which leads us to suspect what we knew all along about what has been going on in the background, there is only one item on the agenda and it is not to protect access to justice in criminal proceedings, and indeed Mr Gove conveniently ignores that 95 per cent of advocacy takes place in those very courts (magistrates) affected by his cuts when he says, "Which is why I am so committed to ensuring we can maintain high quality advocacy in our criminal courts".'

John van der Luit-Drummond is deputy editor for Solicitors Journal
john.vanderluit@solicitorsjournal.co.uk | @JvdLD