Issue 199  26th June 2021

'Reduced-sized juries could help clear court backlog, Lord Chief Justice says'

Reducing the size of trial juries could help clear the backlog of crown court cases, the Lord Chief Justice has suggested. Lord Burnett of Maldon, the most senior judge in England and Wales said that the Covid-19 pandemic had led to “deeply damaging” delays in the justice system. He said the coronavirus crisis had exacerbated a backlog of crown court cases caused by years of budget cuts...

Lord Burnett told the Daily Telegraph: “Put yourself in the position of a complainant or a defendant waiting years for trial. You don’t know what’s going on for all that time. It’s just deeply damaging to people.” The newspaper said the senior judge suggested reducing the size of juries as a solution, with him arguing that “an opportunity was missed to introduce a temporary reduction in jury size” at the start of the pandemic. Lord Burnett asked: “Do some of the low-grade cases that go to the crown court really need as many as 12 [jurors]?”. The Telegraph also reported the Lord Chief Justice expressed frustration that some offences “do seem to take a long time to investigate now” and concern over the time taken for sexual assault and rape cases to reach court.

'Hampshire Police are first to go live with Common Platform and the Single Justice Service'

Hampshire Police is the first force in England to use a new management system for SJP cases. Anyone in the county responding to an SJP charge, such as a traffic offence, will be able to enter their plea digitally.

Hampshire Police’s traffic offence details will upload directly on to the case management system, gradually increasing volumes. As soon as the defendant provides a guilty plea online, the system will prioritise their case. A plea may be dealt with immediately and defendants will no longer have to wait a minimum of 28 days for an outcome (for a fine, withdrawal or referral to open court), as is currently the case. Postal pleas will still be an option and will go to a centralised unit and uploaded to the case. All defendants can request an open hearing in court whether they enter a guilty plea or not guilty plea.

'Three quarters of domestic abuse investigations closed by police without charge, watchdog finds'

Police are dropping investigations into three quarters of domestic abuse-related crimes reported to them, a watchdog has found. HM Inspectorate of Constabulary said more and more victims were “not getting justice”, and being left at risk as perpetrators go free. Inspector Zoë Billingham said the rate at which investigations are closed early was "high and worsening".

The report can be found here.