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Victims of crime are at the mercy of a ‘postcode lottery’ in a criminal justice system that is close to breaking point, MPs warned.
A report from the cross-party Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said the system was ‘bedevilled by long standing poor performance including delays and inefficiencies, and costs are being shunted from one part of the system to another’.
Highlighting ‘damning statistics’, it found that ‘about two-thirds of crown court trials are delayed or do not go ahead at all and only 55% of those who have been a witness say they would be prepared to do so again’.
The report said the ‘overstretched and disjointed’ system does not adequately support victims and witnesses and said that timely access to justice is too dependent on where they live.
It noted ‘critical failings in management from the top down’ and said that the Ministry of Justice ‘has been too slow to recognise where the system is under stress, and to take action to deal with it’.
PAC chair, Meg Hillier, said: ‘An effective criminal justice system is a cornerstone of civil society but ours is at risk.’
Bar Chairman, Chantal-Aimée Doerries QC, said the situation is ‘a consequence of the 26% cuts since 2010-2011’ and called for justice to be ring-fenced from future cuts.
See further' Westminster Watch', in this month's issue.
Victims of crime are at the mercy of a ‘postcode lottery’ in a criminal justice system that is close to breaking point, MPs warned.
A report from the cross-party Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said the system was ‘bedevilled by long standing poor performance including delays and inefficiencies, and costs are being shunted from one part of the system to another’.
Highlighting ‘damning statistics’, it found that ‘about two-thirds of crown court trials are delayed or do not go ahead at all and only 55% of those who have been a witness say they would be prepared to do so again’.
The report said the ‘overstretched and disjointed’ system does not adequately support victims and witnesses and said that timely access to justice is too dependent on where they live.
It noted ‘critical failings in management from the top down’ and said that the Ministry of Justice ‘has been too slow to recognise where the system is under stress, and to take action to deal with it’.
PAC chair, Meg Hillier, said: ‘An effective criminal justice system is a cornerstone of civil society but ours is at risk.’
Bar Chairman, Chantal-Aimée Doerries QC, said the situation is ‘a consequence of the 26% cuts since 2010-2011’ and called for justice to be ring-fenced from future cuts.
See further' Westminster Watch', in this month's issue.
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By David Green
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Unlocking your aged debt to fund your tax in one easy step. By Philip N Bristow
Clement Cowley, Partner at The Penny Group, discusses the upcoming changes to pensions and Inheritance Tax and the potential impact on your financial future
Save the Children UK is the latest charity to benefit from a £500 donation from AlphaBiolabs via the company’s Giving Back initiative
Barrister apprenticeships – shortly to provide the fourth pathway to the Bar – are an ideal opportunity to support local talent and ‘grow your own’, say Tim Coulson and Dr Jane Dennehy
Solicitor General Ellie Reeves KC MP discusses her decade as a trade union and employment law barrister, the demands of life as a Law Officer and the number one priority shaping her work. Interview by Anthony Inglese CB
A decade of reviews and research has disrupted accepted thinking in the search for causality. Suicides following abuse have overtaken domestic homicides. Is the law keeping up? Professor Susan Edwards KC (Hon) examines recent cases and the obstacles to successful prosecution
Why every major sporting event needs an anti-corruption policy. By Louis Weston
At least not that way, says Richard Paige
