Many defendants could go unrepresented under government proposals to means-test Crown Court legal aid and cap funds to reimburse those acquitted, the Law Society has warned.

Responding to the two Ministry of Justice consultations that ended last week, Chancery Lane said: ‘The introduction of means testing in the Crown Court means many more clients will be paying privately, yet if the proposals for reform to central funds costs awards are taken forward, these clients may not be able to claim the full value of their costs even if acquitted.’

While the Law Society supports the idea of means testing, it described as ‘fundamentally unjust’ the proposal to limit to legal aid rates the award of costs for those acquitted. Roy Morgan, chairman of the Legal Aid Practitioners Group, said: ‘It’s completely misconceived – the amount claimed back should not be related to legal aid.’

Ian Kelcey, chairman of the Law Society’s criminal law committee, said: ‘No defendant chooses to be brought before the court. A privately funded acquitted defendant should be properly compensated.’

The Law Society’s legal aid manager, Richard Miller, said: ‘If people are not going to get their costs back more of them will choose not to instruct lawyers, and this is likely to have a damaging impact on the efficiency of the courts.’

An MoJ spokesman said only those with a net annual disposable income of over £3,398 would be liable to make a contribution to their defence costs.