Issue 232  19th February 2022

Criminal barristers are to be balloted on action after the government failed to commit to expediting its response on criminal legal aid reform. Nearly all criminal barristers who responded to a Criminal Bar Association survey last month said it was unreasonable for the government to delay its response to Sir Christopher Bellamy’s criminal legal aid review by the end of March and signalled that they were willing to escalate action if the government did not move faster.

Last week ministers warned that rushing criminal legal aid reform could open the government up to legal challenges – effectively telling practitioners they would not be giving the undertakings being sought. Last night CBA chair Jo Sidhu QC confirmed no undertaking was received by the 14 February deadline and members will now be balloted on action.

Almost 200 criminal trials had to be abandoned between July and September 2021 because there was either no prosecution or no defence advocates available compared to just six cases for the same period in the previous year. The chair of the Criminal Bar Association, Jo Sidhu QC has revealed that one in four of those 194 cases concerned serious and violent offences...

The pandemic has seen the increased use of technology to facilitate remote attendance at hearings, and contains valuable lessons as to the relative advantages and limitations of remote attendance as compared with in-person attendance. Judges have had to balance a large number of competing considerations when deciding whether attendance should be in-person or remote, often in challenging and fast-changing circumstances. A variety of protocols have been issued by Resident Judges at various times in different courts tailored to suit local conditions and circumstances.

This national guidance is not a prescriptive practice direction but intended simply to assist in promoting consistency and predictability of approach to the question of remote attendance in the Crown Court, whilst recognising the need for flexibility in the individual case and to suit local conditions. It will be kept under regular review in the light of accumulated evidence and experience as to the utility and effectiveness of remote hearings.

The wrongful convictions of hundreds of sub-postmasters and mistresses will be examined by a public inquiry starting on Monday. Between 2000 and 2014, more than 700 sub-postmasters were wrongly accused of theft, fraud and false accounting due to a flaw in a computer system Horizon. A total of 72 former sub-postmasters have had their names cleared so far. The cases constitute the most widespread miscarriage of justice in British legal history.

The inquiry - which is expected to run for the rest of this year - will look at whether the Post Office knew about faults in the IT system and will also ask how staff shouldered the blame. It will also examine whether staff at software firm Fujitsu, which developed the Horizon software to complete tasks such as transactions, accounting and stocktaking, knew the system had flaws while data from it was used in court to convict sub-postmasters. A judge will hear evidence on why sub-postmasters and postmistresses were singled out and whether they have been justly compensated.

The Crown Prosecution Service has been told to 'significantly improve' compliance with its disclosure obligations in an inspectorate report - which reveals that an assault trial could have potentially been adjourned because initial disclosure was completed only four days before it was due to begin. Publishing the findings of a ‘baseline assessment’ of CPS London South today, lead inspector Gavin Hernandez said the prosecuting area worked hard during the pandemic to ensure core functions such as service of prosecution papers continued to be delivered in a timely manner. However, improvements were needed to ensure full compliance with disclosing unused material.

Today’s report explains that police have duties to retain, record and reveal material to the CPS, which must decide what unused material meets the test for disclosure to the defence. The test is whether the unused material is something ‘which might reasonably be considered capable of undermining the case for the prosecution against the accused or of assisting the case for the accused’. Inspectors found that 33.3% of cases they assessed in the magistrates’ and Crown courts did not meet the required standard for initial disclosure (all non-sensitive unused material), a figure that rises to 36.8% for rape and serious sexual assault cases. Compliance with continuous disclosure obligations (additional non-sensitive unused material after the statement setting out the defendant’s case is served) was better. However, inspectors said the full set of results showed the area needs to 'significantly improve' compliance.

An unprecedented expansion and refurbishment programme will create more than 4,000 new prison places across the country, the Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab announced today (18 February 2022). These new places are part of the government’s £4 billion investment to create 20,000 modern and innovative prison places, ensuring the right conditions are in place to truly rehabilitate prisoners. This will give prisoners the education, skills and addiction support they need to live crime-free lives on release, helping to cut crime and protect the public.

The 4,000 places announced today will be created across 16 prisons through the building of new wings and refurbishing jails. They will create thousands of jobs for local communities, boosting economies. Subject to planning permission, 8 prisons will receive new houseblocks while HMP High Down in Surrey will get a brand-new workshop. The innovative designs will mean easier access to supporting facilities such as healthcare, kitchens and staff offices which will help to protect frontline staff and clamp down on crime behind bars. New workshops and classrooms will also see offenders getting vital work and training so they are able to find employment on release.