Facing Criminal Justice Chaos
It was announced today that Liz Truss will become our new prime minister. Her cabinet will now have to turn to a whole host of issues that are facing the country; issues that look likely to only intensify over the next few months.
From a legal perspective the biggest issue for Truss will be the strike by the Criminal Bar Association. In England and Wales criminal barristers will be on indefinite strike from this week but that action is only symptomatic of broader issues within the justice system that will need resolving by the new Justice secretary (at the time of writing this was presumed to be Brandon Lewis).
The strike is primarily about legal aid funding which looks like it might have a relatively simple solution if the pay demands are met. However the action itself is exacerbating delays within the justice system that exist because of a lack of funding. Delays that pre-dated Covid and then worsened during lockdown.
Furthermore it was recently revealed by the Evening Standard that many courthouses across the country will be closed during the next decade as the Courts and Tribunals Service tries to meet the Net Zero target. There is no doubting that is a worthwhile goal but this means further disruption to the justice system and the report itself predicts that ad-hoc courts will have to be set up in other buildings like office blocks.
At the same time there have been cuts to the number of court staff as well as to the funding of the Crown Prosecution Service in real terms. The Conservatives have concentrated their efforts to appear tough on law and order by hiring more police officers but that is utterly meaningless when it is backed up with a criminal justice system that is on its last legs.
Ultimately courts and justice are in dire need of additional funding but the new prime minister, who faces a cost of living crisis, has simultaneously promised tax cuts once she enters into office. The hopes for serious reform in this area appear bleak.
Even though there are more police officers on the street, law enforcement is still facing its own crisis that Truss will be forced to reckon with.
A number of forces (including the Metropolitan Police) have recently been placed in special measures suggesting that there are structural failings up and down the country. The Met faces its own special crisis as confidence remains low following the murder of Sarah Everard and the subsequent handling of the vigil that sought to memorialise her. A new commissioner, Mark Rowley, will sure be an improvement on his predecessor but tensions remain high between his office, the Mayor of London, and the Home Office.
Meanwhile the Sarah Everard case has highlighted the fact that crimes primarily affecting women, such as rape, stalking and harassment, are at an all time high. I am loathe to render this as a specific criticism of the criminal justice system because this can sometimes simply mean that women are increasingly more confident about coming forward but a record low rate for bringing charges in rape cases (1.3%) is a severe indictment of the system.
Even when offenders do end up behind bars they are faced with Covid-era restrictions and Victorian prisons that are falling down around their ears.
Ultimately the operation of the criminal justice system should be relatively simple: an effective police force catches alleged criminals; those defendants go to court and face trial in a timely manner; if found guilty they go to prison.
Each of those aspects instead represents a failure that Liz Truss and her cabinet will have to get to grips with in the coming months. A failure to do so will make the problems worse, begging the question, how far are we from breaking point?
There is no podcast this week but I am hoping to complete annual updates for my courses on Gumroad so keep an eye on that if you are studying family, commercial or employment law this coming academic year.
https://uklawweekly.gumroad.com/
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Marcus