“This week plans come before the House of Lords to expand the powers of Crown Prosecution Service caseworkers to handle a wide range of magistrates’ courts cases. It may be logical to argue that deploying these so-called designated case workers or DCWs for minor cases will free more experienced and qualified lawyers for more serious work. Yet inherently it means that the quality of representation for the prosecution will decline – because we are prepared to pay only junior staff to handle cases in the lower courts.”
The Times, 19th February 2008
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk