Harman calls for more female and working-class lawyers

Harriet Harman, the Solicitor General, will today call on the Lord Chancellor, Lord Irvine of Lairg, to appoint more women and working-class lawyers to the bench so that the criminal justice system becomes more representative of the rest of society.

Ms Harman will say that while the present system is seen as being "out of touch" it can not command the respect of the defendant or the confidence of the victim.

In a speech to the Law Centres Federation annual conference in London, the minister will say that entry to the legal profession is too narrow and there must not be one law for the rich and another for the poor.

"Just as the Government is determined to widen access to A-levels and to university, so we need to widen access to the legal profession. That is not easy when there are relatively few "non-traditional" role models and when it is so expensive."

The Solicitor General will add: "It is not good enough to say that people from working-class families, people from ethnic minority communities and women must have confidence in lawyers – they must be lawyers for the legal profession to command confidence."

She will add: "We need diversity at all levels of the legal profession – right up to the highest reaches of the judiciary."

Ms Harman, appointed last year to her ministerial post after three years on the Labour back benches, wants more prosecutors to become judges.

"In the Crown Prosecution Service we have the opportunity to extend opportunities for people to become lawyers. And to diversify the pool from which the Lord Chancellor chooses the judiciary."