Radical Ideas for Criminal Justice
The criminal justice system is on its knees.
By the end of September this year, more than 73,000 cases were still waiting to go to trial. That figure is double what it was in 2019.
Listings for cases currently run into 2027 and those issues with scheduling are not getting better any time soon.
This is now one of the most significant crises facing the country, so what is the answer from the government?
Another report.
At a time when action is desperately needed, we are instead forced to wait for yet more deliberation.
There are, however, a couple of reasons to be more optimistic about this report than others.
The first is the person leading the efforts. Sir Brian Leveson is a former judge who has years of experience working in the High Court. He not only brings much needed expertise to these questions but also promises to look at them in new and radical ways.
Secondly, this is not one of those reports that will take years to make it out of the dusty corridors of Whitehall. Instead, it is due to land on ministers desks before the middle of next year, around the same time as a report on the sentencing of offenders.
Furthermore, it appears that ministers are open to the idea of making significant changes to the criminal justice system. Speaking ahead of the report being officially launched, the Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood said, “we owe it to victims to find bold, innovative approaches that will speed up justice.”
So what will these innovative approaches look like?
We won’t know the full details until next year but early ideas that are being tossed around include giving magistrates a broader remit, diverting people away from the criminal justice system, and, interestingly, replacing some jury trials with cases that are instead decided upon by a district judge flanked by two local magistrates.
These ideas should generally be welcomed as they seek to address one of the central problems in the criminal justice system; the backlog in the courts.
Nevertheless, it is worth asking how effective these solutions would be, even if they were all enacted as soon as possible.
It is a point that I have made over and over again in this newsletter to the extent that I am surprised there are any subscribers left: that the real issue in the criminal justice system is one of funding.
Leveson's report can be as radical as it likes, but unless there is greater investment, any change is only going to scratch the surface of this enormous backlog. This was a criticism repeated by Mary Prior KC, the chair of the Criminal Bar Association.
Rethinking the criminal justice system is not a bad thing and may well produce some excellent reforms, but without more lawyers, judges and physical court buildings, the crisis will only get worse.
This week on the podcast, a shipping case prompts discussion on the advantages of strict time bars on claims.
Episode link: https://uklawweekly.com/2024-uksc-38/
Make a difference today,
Marcus