Reimbursing acquitted defendants

Ken Clarke, the newly appointed lord chancellor, faced a dilemma within days of taking up his new job. Should he abandon the previous government’s scheme, introduced last October, which for the first time had forced many acquitted defendants to bear most of the costs they had paid for their defence? He was facing a judicial review action brought by the Law Society which was to be heard within days and his prospects did not look good.  In opposition, the Conservatives had opposed the scheme, and it was deeply unpopular with the legal profession and, to the extent that they were aware of it, the public.

It should have been an easy call, but the timing was difficult. How would it look to abandon potential savings of £20m when the government was hoping to achieve £6bn of savings this year? In the end he chose to