PM's brother criticises government's legal aid reforms
The Prime Minister's brother has argued that a major fraud trial should be thrown out of court as five of the defendants are unable to obtain proper representation because of the legal aid reforms brought in by the Coalition government, the Law Society Gazette has reported.
Alexander Cameron QC, who is representing the men for free, argued that the current legal system is stretched due to demand for Queen's counsel and many independent barristers refuse to work for the new legal aid rates.
He argued that the state was aware of the problems but that it was doing nothing about the problem. "The state has failed to provide adequate representation to allow a trial to take place." Cameron told the court.
Mr Cameron said that there appeared to be no available lawyers of "sufficent competence and skill" to represent the defendants and that the case should be stayed.
The prosecution accepted that there was an issue but asked for an adjournment to a later date.
The court will rule on the case later this week.
All the defendents deny fraud in a major case brought by the Financial Conduct Authority.