PEOPLE accused of serious crimes were being defended by lawyers who were not skilled or experienced enough to represent them well, former chief justice David Malcolm said this week. Prof Malcolm said the general standard of criminal lawyers in Perth had slipped to the point where some defendants were receiving a ``lesser standard of justice''. He said that while the criminal bar had some strong leaders, like silks Malcolm McCusker and Tom Percy, there was ``a significant number who are at the middle rank or below''. ``There have been instances when the quality of justice has been less than desirable and that is of concern,'' he said. Prof Malcolm said the problem was rooted in poor funding for Legal Aid cases, which should be better resourced. He also called on the WA Bar Association, Law Society of WA and Criminal Lawyers Association of WA to improve colleagues' performances.