‘Through the back door': Defence perspectives on the rise of managerialism at the expense of adversarial justice

This chapter charts the evolution of managerialism in England and Wales through the lens of defence lawyers. Drawn from two PhD studies, the chapter advances empirical evidence of the implicit rise of managerialism in England and Wales. The chapter argues that the role of the defence lawyer needs to be reconceived from that as a zealous advocate. The genesis of this re-conception was the disclosure obligations under the CPIA 1996 and was extended further by the CrimPR 2003. The chapter draws conclusions regarding the re-aligned role of defence lawyers in England and Wales and argues that the defence lawyer in the modern era diverges from classic ideas of adversarialism. It will be argued that the findings indicate a major, largely unheralded, and (possibly) permanent departure from traditional adversarial values in criminal defence, values which were previously considered to underpin equality of arms and fair trials.