The regulator of the Institute of Legal Executives, ILEX Professional Services, is consulting on proposals to grant extended rights of audience to associate prosecutors (APs) in the magistrates' court.This could mean that APs, who are not required to have any legal qualifications, could be able to prosecute all summary-only cases, including in the youth courts, although the Crown Prosecution Service says it has no plans at present to allow them to prosecute offences that are punishable by imprisonment.

However, the range of work that APs are entitled to do has significantly increased since they were first introduced in 1998 to carry out the simplest uncontested hearings and do paperwork.

Lawyers have warned that the current proposals amount to ‘justice on the cheap’ and mark a further step towards the ‘de-lawyering’ of the magistrates' court.

Taken in tandem with HM Courts Service’s moves to replace legally trained court clerks with unqualified note takers, and legal aid cuts that have left more and more defendants unrepresented, the move has serious implications for the quality of justice.

Lawyers have warned of a time when an unrepresented defendant prosecuted by an AP with no legal qualifications, and convicted by a lay bench advised by an unqualified court clerk (who was previously the usher), could be convicted and imprisoned without a single lawyer being present.

This could lead to potential miscarriages of justice, which as we all know are expensive to correct. Then again, if there are no lawyers involved, no one will know there’s been an error – so there will be no appeals.

That’s not justice on the cheap; that’s injustice.