Duty solicitors, who advise and represent suspects at police stations and in the magistrates’ courts, are dwindling in number and have an ageing demographic. Since 2017, more than 1,400 duty solicitors have left the sector and there are now 32 duty solicitor schemes with fewer than seven members. Only 4% of duty solicitors are below the age of 35, and the average age in 2021 was 49 years old.
Law Society president Nick Emmerson said: ‘Without investment, more solicitors will be forced out of the criminal defence profession, representation will become difficult to provide and there is a serious risk of miscarriages of justice.’
Emmerson urged the government to implement the minimum 15% increase for duty solicitors that was recommended by Lord Bellamy’s Independent Review of Criminal Legal Aid in 2021.
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