The government has abandoned its controversial plan to pave the way for the means-testing of legal advice for suspects detained in police stations.

The Law Society welcomed the government?s decision, announced in the latest Lords debate on the Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders (LASPO) bill. However it said the concession is ?far from enough? and the bill remains un-costed and unjust.

The change, in Clause 12, was one of the most fiercely opposed elements in the bill, condemned as unworkable and undermining the long-established right of detainees to free legal advice.

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