SOLICITOR General Mike O'Brien has rejected a charge that many Crown Prosecution Service lawyers were "relatively inarticulate".

The accusation came from Huddersfield MP Barry Sheerman.

Labour education select committee chairman Mr Sheerman complained at Commons question time that some CPS staff did not even have "a decent command of the English language".

But Mr O'Brien dismissed some of the criticism as not being justified and insisted there were signs of an improved quality of advocacy.

Mr Sheerman said there had been criticism "of the quality of staff performance from the CPS in court".

He said: "Many of them are relatively inarticulate, some don't even have a decent command of the English language.

"There has been much criticism from the magistracy of the quality that they see in their courts."

Mr O'Brien said: "I think some of the criticism you have given is not justified.

"I've no doubt there are examples where there are poor advocates. But it is also the case that increasingly we are seeing the CPS develop higher court advocates, who undergo special training."