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There are two separate and distinct aspects to a successful criminal defence. The first is the advocacy and the presenting of your case before judge and jury. The second is the obtaining of evidence. In addition one has to comply with procedures, and such things as the disclosure of necessary evidence to the prosecution.
Legal aid, or public funding as it should now be called, is still fairly freely available for those charged with serious criminal matters. If it were not, there would be serious breaches of Article 6 of the Human Rights Act. The sting however is that Public Funding can be restrictive, and in certain circumstances may have to be paid back in its entirety. There can also be the question of the quality of work undertaken with public funding. Solicitors are paid a fixed fee, and this does not always encourage them to pull out all the stops, and if they do any work which the Legal Aid authorities might consider unnecessary, they will not get paid.
The quality and availability of top rate criminal barristers is excellent. However choose with care, and in particular check out any recommendation you receive. The time taken to watch your intended barrister in action, on his feet in Court, would not be wasted. If you are eligible for public funding you must instruct a solicitor, and should ensure that the firm instructed has a strong and respected criminal department. You should also ensure that the solicitor of your choice will deal with the matter throughout, and that you will not be passed over to junior staff.
Advocacy and dealing withy the procedures should not present a problem if those instructed are chosen with care. The problem that can lead to injustice is with the gathering of evidence. A barrister will advise on the evidence needed, but it is not his role to obtain this evidence. That falls to the solicitor, but criminal defence solicitors rarely have the facilities [unlike in American TV Movies] to search out evidence, or adopt any investigative role. One reason for this is the reluctance of the Legal Aid fund to meet such costs.
However good the advocacy at the trial, a successful defence can not be mounted without evidence. If you are charged with a serious matter, very serious thought must be given to adopting an investigative stance against the facts alleged against you. After all, when the police made investigation, their one purpose was to secure evidence against you. It is now your turn to show that this evidence is unreliable. This will require making investigations, interviewing witnesses, and often considerable research.
