Stop delaying justice

The MOJ has brought out a new initiative called Stop Delaying Justice... okay so it's technically an initiative of the judiciary in the magistrates court but its an MOJ thing really.

The idea is that rather than allow defendants to take full advice on a case and their representatives to properly scrutinise the evidence, pleas should be taken on the first hearing and the case disposed of at the second hearing.  That means you enter a plea at first appearance then trial is second appearance no exception.

That's all well and good, but the truth is that if you speak to the duty solicitor at Thames Mags he might well have 15 other clients to deal with.  How much scrutiny do you think he's given you case?  Not much is the answer.  We can all say "well Mr X should know if he committed the crime or not".  But that's often not the case.  And, even if it is this country operates an adversarial legal system meaning that the prosecution must prove the defendant's guilt and there is nothing wrong with the defendant asking the prosecution to do just that.

The other problem with Stop Delaying Justice is the CJSSS initiative that was also supposed to speed up the courts by reducing the amount of paperwork... in other words, instead of providing their evidence to the defence and court the prosecution simply give a Janet and John summary of the evidence upon which you are supposed to base all of your tactical decisions that Stop Delaying Justice insists you make on the spot at the first appearance.

How am I supposed to say if PC Smith is required when I've never seen a statement from him?  How do I agree that the arrest was lawful when I have no evidence about the arrest?  How do I agree that the interview transcript is accurate when I have neither transcript nor tape (and even if I did have the tape I have no way of listening to it).  To top it all, how am I supposed to agree evidence and do everything else when I'm appearing as the duty solicitor, have no legal aid and cannot say for sure whether I will be representing the client at trial?

It's also worth remembering that the summary is usually written by the police officer who has dealt with the defendant and because the police officers are human the summaries are frequently one-sided in favour of the prosecution.  In some cases you do get both the summary and selected witness statements, between which it is not uncommon to find significant disagreement.

Since the new year a number of courts have been turned into trial courts meaning that their pre-trial work is shipped to a neighbouring court.  In my area, Stratford is a trial court with all the other work going to Thames.  Last Monday court one at Thames had a list of 50 people and one duty solicitor to cover all comers.  The other courts had very similar lists.  The cells were holding just under 50 people, even though they have barely half that number of cells.

These initiatives are not about reducing delays.  They are about increasing conviction rates in my opinion.

If the MOJ seriously wants to reduce justice delays then they need to stop messing about with courts.  Keep the busy ones open, ensure that they are properly staffed and do the work in their area effectively.  Not sending cases all over the place and having courts in one place and admin in another - e.g. Romford Mags had its admin centre about 8 miles away in Redbridge for a while, which is fine until somebody forgets to send a file over then you have a week long delay!

Comments

  1. I concur with parts of your analysis, but whilst we are supposed to ensure that a plea is taken at the earliest opportunity, many advocates seem to like to string the proceedings out for no good reason.

    We obviously have to keep the business of the court moving along, so delays are often refused unless strong reasons are provided.

    Our cells often accommodate 10-15 prisoners but 50 ? The joys of a rural bench !

    ReplyDelete
  2. i'm a defence advocate and i don't like stringing anything out. (at £50 a hearing why would i bother?) i do kinda like representing my client properly and the fact is that the police haven't a bloody clue about the truth and fiction and the cps are none too picky about misleading a court in a way that would (quite rightly) get me as counsel in serious hot water. amazingly enough, they say things they have no idea are true or otherwise when they think it aids their case. they also simply do not like to disclose anything if they can get away with it. laziness? unfairness?? no idea, but they don't even when repeatedly directed to by djs. that would come under the heading of delaying justice. (which is why i quote the phrase with delight at them whenever possible.)

    i refuse to put on a case management form anything that may prejudice my client's interests when it comes to trial. the cps are very keen on waving them around later and i'd really rather not get bitten on the arse by that. the unfortunate consequence is that if i am not sure that a certain witness is safe to have s9, then i call them. you can always look into it later when (if) you have more details, and if the worst comes to the worst you can just agree to release them on the morning of trial. yes it causes delay and costs more money, but that's not my fault, it's the cps' inability to give you the information they should at the appropriate time. especially when half of them are too damn lazy to fill in their bit of the case management form. which would be delaying justice (again).

    and the bit where they ask what's in dispute? 'that D committed the offence as charged'. unhelpful, but safe. not my job to prepare my defence at a first appearance with neither time nor required information. so it costs the system more? tough - get a better system, then, and not at the cost of prejudicing my clients.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I witnessed an awkward exchange between a solicitor and a seasonably cold District Judge last week. In short, the solicitor was asserting that the Crown were unable to prove their case on the evidence served at the first appearance. Of course, he didn't know what further evidence (if any) might be served. Accordingly, he quite rightly required the Crown to prove their case and declined to make any admissions as to anything else. The Judge went mad and, after realising that there was no way this solicitor was going to change his mind, threatened him with personal wasted costs if his refusal to 'adequately identify the issues' resulted in a delay further down the line. Now, I personally would like to see that happen. Not because I would like to see the solicitor penalised in costs but because I would love to see what the High Court would have to say about the appropriateness of such a sanction. It seems unlikely in the extreme that such a court would uphold the Judge's order as to costs (if indeed he went on to make it) in circumstances where it was clear to all that the solicitor was acting in his client's best interests. Stop Delaying Justice is an initiative to save money and have a more 'effective' and 'streamlined' justice system. It does not, however, have any place in purporting to tamper with the rules of evidence, reverse the burden of proof, or threaten solicitors with wasted costs when they are acting in the best interests of their client, which, I hasten to point out, is their job. I await the day when a Magistrates' Court goes too far and itself then comes under scrutiny by a more superior court.

    ReplyDelete
  4. If a case needs more than two hearings to be dealt with fairly to all parties, jumping up and down whilst shouting "only two hearings" does not assist matters in my opinion.

    In relation to District Judges and the client who does not want to plead, generally in the belief that the complainant will not attend Court and then the Crown cannot prove their case, the Law Society issued a practice note last week. Crimeline had it. Essentially however, it is confirmed that the Defendant has the right to test the Crown's case. Therefore if you write on the PTR form that "The Defendant puts the Prosecution to strict proof" then that is all you can put in those circumstances. Wasted costs only become relevant if there are any costs that are actually wasted, such as by causing an adjournment on the day of trial by only raising the technical defence at that stage. So long as there is no ambush on the day of trial there are no wasted costs.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I'm not too sure about the new changes to the way in which Magistrates' Courts now operate. Thames has always been a nightmare when trying to get hold of by phone/chasing up correspondence/any other admin tasks.

    Earlier this week, after having spent two days attempting to call the list office through various numbers, we decided to send one of our staff to the Court in person to chase up a response to a letter we had send last week.

    Upon arriving, he was informed that the Court was understaffed and they were too busy to answer the phones.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Good stuff. Great to see we're not alone in fighting (literally) for justice. Similar issues refered to here.

    http://www.ashcottsolicitors.co.uk/police-get-it-wrong-in-drugs-case/2012/02/24/

    ReplyDelete
  7. Just been on the receieving end fof this new system- Had to get an intruder out of my house on a dark night and used strictly reasonable force. Man claimed his false teeth were knocked out and willcost £9000 to replace. No documents supplied at all before Directions Hearing,. Day of hearing-adjourned as no documents received,only statements from 2 poilce officers written up 6 weeks after the evnt- CPS and ther Met.will not produce their original notes,despite serious errors and discrepancies between statements.
    Day of main hearing- requested police notes,photograph of victim's alleged injuries (shown at police interview) not supplied-but on thre day the victim had written a new statement- whose existence was not even disclosed before the hearing. And the statement had been written up by the Met. a month before the hearing-and its existence not even dfisclosed.And the magistrates only allowed a 5 minute adjournment to read it!!
    So now I have to keep silent when sentenced for Assault and file appeal to the Crown Court.
    And we Brits. have the temerity to laugh at other ergimes for unjust legal systems. Look at the mess on your ow doorstep first!!!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I am just a simple member of the General public indeed a Pleb.
    However I have spent the last 8 months 7 court appearances and a number of serious allegations against me.
    Why?

    I last December (2011) brought a case for Residency of my then 7 year old daughter.

    As my ex wife disappeared with her last November.
    She has not turned up at court her solicitors have not turned up at court she has made 3 statements all with major differences at different times.

    Her response was a sereies of fabrications

    Serious matters have been documented without any truth evidence facts supporting data or indeed investigation.

    Is this not all Delaying Justice.

    I am still awaiting my next appearence 28th August to sort the new allegations that did not appear in the first two statements.

    Oh not seem my daughter why?
    You have to fill in a document for the Contact Centre that has to be agreed by both parties.
    So a delaying tactic is to put on the from complete fabrications I dont sign thus the Respondent Solicitor wins that little pitch.

    Again is that delaying Justice

    You be the Judge.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Thanks for any other informative site. Where else may
    just I am getting that type of information written in such an ideal manner?

    I've a undertaking that I am just now working on, and I've been on the glance out for such info.
    Here is my blog post : lägenheter i alanya

    ReplyDelete
  10. If you want to get a great deal from this paragraph
    then you have to apply these methods to your won website.
    Also visit my web site :: Kjøpe hus i Alanya

    ReplyDelete
  11. We stumbled over here coming from a different website
    and thought I should check things out. I like what I see so now i am following
    you. Look forward to going over your web page yet again.
    Visit my blog ... antalya Real estate

    ReplyDelete
  12. I think the admin of this site is genuinely working hard in support of his web page, since
    here every data is quality based data.
    Feel free to surf my web-site Loma asunto Alanya

    ReplyDelete
  13. It's in fact very complex in this active life to listen news on Television, thus I only use internet for that reason, and take the newest information.
    Also visit my weblog - hus till salu i Alanya

    ReplyDelete
  14. Hello! This is kind of off topic but I need some advice from an established blog.
    Is it very difficult to set up your own blog?
    I'm not very techincal but I can figure things out pretty quick. I'm thinking about
    creating my own but I'm not sure where to begin. Do you have any tips or suggestions? Appreciate it
    My web blog : häuser Bodrum

    ReplyDelete
  15. I am regular reader, how are you everybody? This article posted at this web site is truly
    good.
    Review my homepage : immobilien alanya

    ReplyDelete
  16. Having read this I thought it was extremely enlightening.
    I appreciate you spending some time and effort to put this information
    together. I once again find myself spending a significant
    amount of time both reading and posting comments. But so what, it was still worth it!
    my web page > bostad i Antalya

    ReplyDelete
  17. Pretty! This has been an extremely wonderful post. Thank you for providing these details.
    My website - Asuntoja antalyasta

    ReplyDelete
  18. Hi to every one, since I am truly keen of reading this blog's post to be updated on a regular basis. It contains good data.
    My webpage :: direct download movies

    ReplyDelete
  19. It's actually a great and helpful piece of info. I'm glad that
    you shared this useful info with us. Please stay us up to date
    like this. Thank you for sharing.
    Here is my page :: cheap cigarettes

    ReplyDelete
  20. Greetings from Los angeles! I'm bored to tears at work so I decided to browse your site on my iphone during lunch break. I enjoy the information you present here and can't wait to take a look when I get home.

    I'm shocked at how fast your blog loaded on my cell phone .. I'm
    not even using WIFI, just 3G .. Anyhow, amazing site!
    My blog real estate alanya

    ReplyDelete
  21. Valuable info. Fortunate me I discovered your website by accident, and I'm stunned why this twist of fate didn't came about
    earlier! I bookmarked it.
    Here is my blog post diablo 3 wizard guide

    ReplyDelete
  22. I have read so many articles or reviews on the topic of the blogger lovers except this piece of writing is truly
    a nice piece of writing, keep it up.
    Here is my web blog how to lose man boobs fast

    ReplyDelete
  23. Hi there, i read your blog from time to time and i own a similar one
    and i was just wondering if you get a lot of spam responses?
    If so how do you reduce it, any plugin or anything
    you can suggest? I get so much lately it's driving me insane so any help is very much appreciated.
    My page > how to get rid of man boobs

    ReplyDelete
  24. Wonderful article! This is the kind of information that
    should be shared across the internet. Shame on Google for no longer
    positioning this publish higher! Come on over and discuss with my
    site . Thanks =)
    My homepage :: Hus i Bodrum

    ReplyDelete
  25. I have been exploring for a little for any high quality
    articles or blog posts on this sort of area .

    Exploring in Yahoo I ultimately stumbled upon this web site.
    Studying this information So i am glad to show that I have an incredibly excellent uncanny feeling I discovered just what I needed.
    I so much unquestionably will make certain to do not omit this website and
    provides it a look regularly.
    My page - get rid of acne

    ReplyDelete
  26. We stumbled over here coming from a different page and thought
    I may as well check things out. I like what I
    see so i am just following you. Look forward to looking over your web page yet
    again.
    Also visit my homepage ; home made acne cures

    ReplyDelete
  27. I know this if off topic but I'm looking into starting my own weblog and was wondering what all is needed to get set up? I'm assuming having a blog
    like yours would cost a pretty penny? I'm not very web smart so I'm not 100% certain. Any recommendations or advice would be greatly appreciated. Kudos
    my page: http://media.csbe.qc.ca

    ReplyDelete
  28. Wow, amazing weblog layout! How long have you ever been
    running a blog for? you make blogging look easy. The whole
    glance of your web site is wonderful, let alone the content material!
    My webpage :: skin bleaching cream

    ReplyDelete
  29. Thanks for another informative website.
    Where else may I am getting that kind of info written
    in such a perfect means? I've a mission that I'm simply now working on,
    and I have been at the look out for such info.
    Feel free to surf my web site ... skin lightening cream

    ReplyDelete
  30. This page truly has all of the info I wanted about this
    subject and didn't know who to ask.
    My web page - tattoo removal

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Are items referred to in s.9’s as exhibits bound to be served?

Driving without insurance

National Identity Cards