Law Society warns against new court

In its submission to the Independent Review of the Criminal Courts, the Society outlines alternative measures to reduce demand and increase capacity, including better data sharing, regular listings meetings, more remote hearings at certain stages, and a presumption that some offenders should be diverted from the criminal justice system at the outset.

Law Society president Richard Atkinson said we hope this review will lead to meaningful public debate about what society expects of the criminal justice system and, importantly, how to properly resource it. He added the criminal justice system – a vital public service – has been starved of resources for decades with inevitable dire consequences. These include the massive criminal court backlogs which result in unacceptable delays for victims, witnesses and defendants and erode trust in our justice system.

Atkinson emphasised that members of the legal profession, who see how the system operates from the police station through to prisons and probation, recognise this as a clear issue of supply and demand. He said to cut the backlogs, the number of cases coming into the system must be reduced and capacity to deal with them increased. Any approach to the backlogs that doesn’t address this simple fact will fail.

He warned that setting up an intermediate court will waste money, time and energy and will not tackle the problem of supply and demand. He stated the extra personnel, physical and financial resources that this new court structure would require would be better invested immediately in the existing court system. He also stressed that where cases are ultimately heard requires very careful consideration if it is to involve the removal of the right to trial by jury for those that currently have that right and should not be seen as offering a quick fix to the Crown Court backlogs.

Atkinson concluded that transferring cases from the Crown Court to the magistrates’ court within current capacity limitations when there is already a substantial and growing magistrates’ court backlog is also not the answer. It simply shifts the burden from one place to another. He asserted that fundamentally only sustained investment across the criminal justice system will ensure victims and defendants get justice that is both timely and fair.