Law in Action - 29/06/2010

Towards the end of the last parliament, the then Justice Secretary Jack Straw said that England and Wales had too many lawyers trying to make a living from criminal legal aid. His intention was to cut their number by around 70 percent. As the current government eyes up the legal aid budget for further cuts, Joshua Rozenberg asks whether Mr Straw was right or will plans to put thousands of criminal lawyers out of business lead to an unacceptable decline in standards.