Issue 258  3rd September 2022

More of the country’s courthouses could be shut down and sold off in the next decade in an attempt to ensure the justice system meets the Net Zero target, it has emerged. Ageing and run-down courts which cannot be upgraded to cope with modern technology are particularly under-threat in plans drawn up by HM Courts and Tribunal Service (HMCTS). A “consolidation” of the justice estate is expected by 2031, with “radical” plans also on the table to use office blocks and public buildings as ad-hoc ‘Nightingale Courts’.

The ten-year estates strategy – signed off by the HMCTS Board in March – has not been published but can be revealed today after an Evening Standard Freedom of Information request. The news comes against the backdrop of a spiralling crisis in the criminal justice system, with barristers on strike over legal aid fees and the backlog of cases heading above 60,000... Forty-two courts around the UK which have National Heritage listed status have been particularly earmarked for potential closure due to “disproportionately high” repair and modernisation costs, unless outside funding can be secured.

The Home Office has today (2 September 2022) published Sir Tom Winsor’s review of the circumstances surrounding the departure of Dame Cressida Dick, the former Metropolitan Police Commissioner. The Home Secretary asked Sir Tom Winsor, the former Chief Inspector of Constabulary, to assess the facts of what happened, whether the correct procedures had been followed and to make recommendations as to how the processes for the accountability of the commissioner could be improved...

In the report, Sir Tom states that he believes due process was not followed by the Mayor of London and the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime in the actions they took which led, on 10 February 2022, to Dame Cressida Dick stepping aside as commissioner. It also notes that the mayor’s actions were not in accordance with the relevant legislation. A number of recommendations for how accountability arrangements in London can be improved were also given. The government is already taking steps to strengthen the accountability and transparency of police governance through the delivery of recommendations from the Police and Crime Commissioner review. The Home Office will consider all of the findings Sir Tom has laid out and will bring forward any further changes we deem necessary once the findings and recommendations have been fully considered.

Drink-drivers and speeders face being fitted with ankle tags that will catch them if they get behind the wheel while they are banned from driving under plans being explored by the government. The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) is looking into gyroscopic technology that could be installed in an electronic tag to spot when an individual is driving. The work is part of an £18.5 million investment the department is making to develop technology that will reduce crime.

It would use a motion sensor that can detect when the wearer is behind the wheel, detecting specific movements such as pressing the clutch, accelerator or brake. It could also distinguish these movements from the motion of the car, thus distinguishing whether the wearer was the driver or a passenger. This would go beyond motion-sensing technology installed in smartphones used by insurance firms in America to determine whether the device is being used in a car, but which cannot say who the driver or other passengers are...

Ministers want the technology to keep tabs on drink-driver offenders or those committing serious speeding offences that trigger an automatic driving ban, such as exceeding 100mph or driving at double the speed limit.