Bar Council chairman Timothy Dutton QC has warned that a "second-class system" could result from new legal aid reforms being proposed by the Legal Services Commission (LSC).

Speaking in Vienna today (1 February) at the 36th conference of the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE), which this year focuses on access to justice, Dutton warned that changes designed to lower costs by requiring practitioners to bid for blocks of criminal work could create a second-class system for legal aid work.

The speech comes as members of the profession clash with the LSC over a raft of new measures aiming to drive down the cost of funding criminal cases.

Meanwhile, the latest deadline has passed for 2,300 barristers to sign up to the controversial Very High Cost Cases (VHCC) contract introduced in mid-January. One earlier deadline has already expired and it is unclear how many barristers have signed up to the agreement thus far.

Under the terms of the VHCC, fees for major criminal cases are set to be reduced by as much as 20%-30%, with many barristers openly considering whether it is economically viable to continue with the work.

In an exchange of letters between Dutton and LSC policy director Richard Collins, the Bar Council chairman denies that the body encouraged barristers not to sign the contract.

Dutton commented: "Lawyers do not provide commoditised services. Each case is different, not least for the parties directly concerned. But proposed changes to the funding of certain cases in England and Wales could create a second-class service unless we can agree an approach [that] recognises that a case is not a commodity."

He added: "There is still time for the LSC to refine its thinking and we are urging the LSC to think carefully about how it proceeds."

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