Issue 198  19th June 2021

'Crown court backlog of cases doubles despite £40m bailout'

The backlog of crown court trials has more than doubled to 40,000 since the start of the pandemic, raising fears that a £40 million emergency bailout has failed to protect the criminal justice system.

Law chiefs have urged the government to expand the “Nightingale courts” programme to reduce the waiting list, which they claim has led to the largest number of remand prisoners for 15 years. The Times understands that about 8,000 suspects are on remand as they await crown court trials in England and Wales, with 1,600 having been held for at least a year, far longer than the legal custody time limit before the health crisis.

'Ministers deeply ashamed as review finds thousands of rape victims are being failed'

Something has gone seriously wrong in the criminal justice system when it comes to rape, according to a major government report. Senior ministers say they are deeply ashamed that there has been a sharp drop in the number of cases going to court in just five years...

The government has pledged "sweeping reforms" to increase the number of rape cases reaching court while bolstering support for victims... The government has announced that each part of the criminal justice system will now be held to better account, with performance scorecards on key metrics such as timeliness and victim engagement being published every six months... The police investigations will be less focused on the victim and instead there will be "robust assessment of suspect behaviour and offending patterns"... It also states that "no victim will be left without a phone for more than 24 hours, in any circumstances, and our priority is that victims have their own phones returned within this period, with replacement phones being provided in the minority of cases".

The report can be found here.

'Daniel Morgan: Met Police accused of form of corruption in report'

The Metropolitan Police was institutionally corrupt in the way it concealed or denied its failings over the unsolved murder of Daniel Morgan, a report has found. The force's first objective was to protect itself, said Baroness O'Loan, the head of an independent panel.

Private investigator Mr Morgan was attacked with an axe in the car park of a pub in south-east London in 1987... Despite five police inquiries and an inquest, no-one has been convicted over the father of two's death, with the Metropolitan Police previously admitting corruption had hampered the original murder investigation.

The report can be found here.

'Consultation on new sentencing guideline for importation of firearms offences'

Today we have opened a consultation on a draft sentencing guideline covering importation of firearms and ammunition under two Customs and Excise Management Act 1979 offences.

The guideline would apply to adult offenders in England and Wales and proposes sentences of up to 28 years’ custody for the most serious cases, for example the large-scale importation of rapid-firing weapons for use in crime, and up to seven years for offences involving firearms that are less dangerous.

'CPS staff in danger of burnout, DPP warns'

Stressed and overworked Crown Prosecution Staff are in danger of burnout if courts list too many cases quickly to clear the justice backlog, the director of public prosecutions has warned. The lord chancellor has announced that there will be no cap on judicial sitting days and Crown courts have been authorised to work at ‘full throttle’ to their maximum capacity.

Appearing before the Commons justice select committee yesterday, Max Hill QC said prosecutors were individually dealing with a 20%-80% uplift of so-called ‘live’ cases compared with February 2020.

'Boost for open justice as court judgments get new home'

Important court and tribunal judgments will be available via The National Archives for the first time, increasing transparency and securing free access for all.