The elevation of associate prosecutors is not the end of the world, says Andrew Keogh
The Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill passed into law on 8 May 2008. Section 55 of that Act, entitled “Extension of powers of non-legal staff” heralds one of the most significant shifts in rights of audience since the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990 came into force.
Section 55 marks the next stage for designated caseworkers giving them the right to conduct a much wider range of hearings in the magistrates' court, including some summary trials. In three years' time associate prosecutors as they will henceforth be titled will be regulated and it is only a matter of time before all summary proceedings can be undertaken.
During the passage of the Bill the response from the Bar Council and Law Society was somewhat predictable, and consistent with their duty to protect their own members. When you tear away the rhetoric, however, there was and is no substance at all in the self-serving battle that took place during the passage of this Act.
The chairman of the Bar wrote
