Issue 264  22nd October 2022

Cases where the defendant is likely to plead guilty should be brought forward to help clear the Crown court backlog, the senior presiding judge has suggested. The Crown court backlog has been steadily rising since April, when the criminal began their action over legal aid funding. Figures published by HM Courts & Tribunals Service last week show the backlog stood at 61,212 in August.

Addressing the Criminal Law Solicitors Association Conference last Friday, Lord Justice Edis suggested ‘bringing cases forward which are going to plead guilty later on and making them plead sooner’. Edis said the current remuneration system 'may not necessarily be the best for encouraging that kind of outcome from your point of view. It might need adjustment for that reason.’ However, the backlog was at its highest level and bigger than it was at the height of the pandemic. ‘Getting through that backlog is going to be a real problem. I do not think we are going to be able to sort it out on Monday. We have got a problem for the next few weeks. One that will assist would be to get dialogue between solicitors, barristers, list officers and resident judges, so you can identify cases of yours where they will plead guilty. Where you think, if it was listed, it would probably plead, talk to the list officer and they should be saying “OK we will list it”. If you have got two, three or four of these cases… you can see how that works. ‘This is a way of processing cases. I’m not saying more cases ought to crack than they would today. Those which are going to crack anyway and should crack – let’s get cracking. Everyone’s happy, you have done the case and put the bill in, the client has been dealt with appropriately and gets more credit.’

The judiciary in England and Wales is “institutionally racist”, with more than half of legal professionals surveyed claiming to have witnessed a judge acting in a racially biased way, according to a report. The study by the University of Manchester and barrister Keir Monteith KC found judicial discrimination to be directed particularly towards black court users – from lawyers to witnesses to defendants.

A survey of 373 legal professionals found that 56% stated they had witnessed at least one judge acting in a racially biased way towards a defendant, while 52% had witnessed discrimination in judicial decision-making. Examples ranged from hostility towards black defendants, including the use of the term “you people”, to the imposition of harsher sentences, as previously highlighted by the Lammy report. The study also criticises the current five-year strategy to boost judicial diversity for failing to mention racial bias or racism...

The government should work with the judiciary to pilot specialised economic crime courts, an influential committee of MPs concludes today. In a report on what it calls an 'epidemic' fraud, the House of Commons Justice Committee also supports calls for the creation of an offence of failure to prevent fraud. This is likely to be the subject of amendments to the Economic Crime and Transparency Bill, currently in committee stage in the House of Commons. In its report, the committee said it heard 'compelling proposals for dedicated economic crime courts to ensure there are judges with the right skills to oversee what can often be lengthy and sometimes complex cases.'

The report also deals with the volume of digital evidence underpinning cases, which has increased 'exponentially'. 'Our inquiry repeatedly heard that the existing legislation on disclosure was created at a time when the current volume of evidence submitted for cases could not have been envisaged.' However it shies away from recommending new legislation, preferring clearer guidelines on how current legislation should work. 'The attorney general should review the current disclosure gudelines and consider whether there is merit in introducing specific guidance on disclosure in fraud cases wtih large quantities of digital material.'

Greater engagement between the police, prosecution and defence could also help conclude cases in a timely manner, the report states. 'A key barrier to this engagement has been the lack of legal aid funding, and so we welcome the government's recent commitments in relation to ensuring this early engagement is incentivised through the legal aid schemes.' In another recommendation, the report proposes that sentencing guidelines be amended to be based on the impact that fraud crimes have on victims rather than the monetary value of the fraud.

The Lord Chancellor and Justice Secretary, Brandon Lewis, unveiled the foundation stones at the construction site today (18 October 2022). The City of London Law courts will be a modern, efficient and flexible centre for London’s legal services, providing a total of 18 hearing rooms, an increase of 10 on the courts they will replace in 2026. This consists of 8 Crown, six civil and four magistrates’ courtrooms. The court will focus on high-level fraud, cyber and economic crime...

A blueprint for prosecuting rape and serious sexual offences has taken a significant step forward today - as new data reveals charge rates for rape have increased to 72.8%. Quarterly statistics from the Crown Prosecution Service also show rape referrals from forces increased by 10%. It comes as police and CPS commit to a new programme of joint working to drive improvements right across England and Wales.

The refreshed commitment – under the Joint National Action Plan – doubles down on the pledge for police and prosecutors to work together earlier to build strong cases which can pass swiftly through the justice system. A significant amount of work has taken place to transform the way rape cases are handled and this will be used to inform an ambitious, national operating model for these offences next year. This work has already led to an increase in the number of rape referrals from the police to the CPS and in charges...