The Law Society has criticised Nick Herbert’s proposal to give magistrates power to issue summary sentences outside of court, which it says could leave defendants without access to proper advice.

Speaking to the Magistrates’ Association last week, the justice minister (pictured) mooted the idea of giving magistrates the power to perform a triage function outside court and in simple non-contested cases hand down sentences immediately after a defendant is charged.

He said the suggestion, informed by the experience of the summer riots, could be ‘simple, swift and need not involve expensive lawyers’.

Law Society chief executive Desmond Hudson said: ‘Everyone has the right to defend themselves in person or through a lawyer. That includes issues around mitigation of sentence. Nick Herbert's stated desire to respect the rule of law might be thought incompatible with his assertion that the sentencing process could take place outside the courtroom, and "need not involve expensive lawyers".’

Hudson added: ‘Leaving aside the unnecessary slight, it implies that a defendant may not have access to proper advice.’

The chair of the Magistrates Association, John Fassenfelt, welcomed the minister’s desire to give magistrates a more central role in the community, and said he would have to look closer at the proposal and respond to it in due course.