Don’t waste precious time and resources on intermediate court, warns Law Society

News

An additional court structure is not the answer to the backlog crisis, the Law Society of England and Wales has warned.

The Law Society’s submission to the Independent Review of the Criminal Courts sets out steps that could be taken to reduce demand and increase capacity including:

• introducing a presumption that certain groups of offenders should be diverted from the criminal justice system by the police and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) at the outset, where appropriate
• better data sharing
• more remote hearings for certain stages
• regular listings meetings

“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,” said our president Richard Atkinson.

“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.

“Our members, who see how the system operates from the police station right through to the prisons and probation, recognise this is a clear issue of supply and demand.

“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.

“Setting up an intermediate court will waste money, time and energy and will not tackle the problem of supply and demand.

“The extra personnel, physical and financial resources that this new court structure would require would be better invested immediately in the existing court system.

“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.

“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.

“Fundamentally only sustained investment across the criminal justice system will ensure victims and defendants get justice that is both timely and fair.”

Notes to editors

A copy of our full response is available on request to the press office.