Issue 374  30th November 2024

The Conservative government left the courts in financial limbo until June because it failed to settle their funding, the most senior judge in England and Wales has told MPs. Baroness Sue Carr, the lady chief justice, told Parliament's Justice Committee the criminal courts were in a "drastic" state and the previous government had repeatedly failed to offer funds in time for each new financial year. She said the new Labour government’s decision to financially peg back how much work judges could do meant some courts would be out of use, despite record backlogs. She predicted that those cuts would save no money and were "distressing" for victims and everyone else involved in the system.

Baroness Carr’s comments on the state of the courts come as the system struggles with record backlogs of around 68,000 open cases in the Crown Courts. Those backlogs have been caused by a combination of complex factors, including the pandemic, but have their roots in a decision to cap justice spending before then...

Baroness Carr said that while there were enough judges available to sit on cases for 113,000 days a year, the new government had pegged funding for them 6,500 days below that ceiling. "The decision to limit us to 106,500 has, frankly, had a drastic effect across the board," she said. "Judges have had to take fixed cases out of their lists. They've all had to cancel bookings [of part-time judges]." Baroness Carr said the cases being removed from the schedule includes serious violence and sexual offences - and some of these could not be heard before 2027...

Domestic abusers will be ordered to stay away from their victims and face tougher restrictions with the launch of new protective orders today. Providing vital protection to victims, for the first time all types of domestic abuse will be covered - including physical, psychological, stalking, and coercive control. The new Domestic Abuse Protection Notices and Orders will also be handed out by all courts (family, civil, and criminal), meaning more perpetrators will be forced to live under restrictions. They will initially launch in Greater Manchester, three London boroughs and with the British Transport Police. They will also be used in Cleveland and North Wales from early 2025 ahead of a national rollout.

The Domestic Abuse Protection Notices can be issued by the police immediately following any incident of abuse, providing protection straight away and giving police time to apply for a Domestic Abuse Protection Order to secure longer term protection for the victim. Unlike some existing protections, which can only be enforced for 28 days, the new Domestic Abuse Protection Orders will have no time restrictions, meaning victims are protected for as long as needed to stay safe. Breaching the order will be a criminal offence punishable by up to five years in prison, making sure perpetrators who flout the rules are punished. Friends and family of victims will also be able to apply for the new orders on behalf of the victim, as well as victims themselves and the police. This will reduce victim engagement with the criminal justice system, if necessary – process which can be daunting for some survivors. As well as imposing exclusion zones, the orders can mandate positive requirements such as attendance at a behaviour change programme. For the first time, family courts able to impose tagging in the most serious cases, a power previously reserved for the police and criminal courts only...

The government is drawing up plans for a crackdown on rogue private prosecutors in the wake of the Post Office scandal and flaws in the troubled Single Justice Procedure. Courts Minister Heidi Alexander has vowed that “justice should never come at the cost of fairness” as she pushes forward an upgrade to the way tens of thousands of people are taken to court every year...

The government is now planning a consultation over improved standards for non-police and private prosecutors who use the justice system, which could see the introduction of a new watchdog similar to the body which monitors the work of the Crown Prosecution Service. Prosecutors may also need to seek accreditation or sign up to a statutory code of standards. Ministers are considering new safeguards built into the Single Justice Procedure to help vulnerable defendants, as well as powers of inspection over prosecuting bodies and greater transparency. An option to separate investigatory and prosecutorial functions is also being considered, to avoid a repeat of the Post Office fiasco...

An ambitious plan to tackle racial disproportionality and safeguard fair prosecution decision-making for all has been published today by the Crown Prosecution Service. At the heart of this will be a change to the Code for Crown Prosecutors - the guidance by which prosecutors make their decisions – which will be designed to eliminate racial bias in decision-making. The action plan has been developed after research, commissioned by the CPS and overseen by an independent Disproportionality Advisory Group, found that defendants from minority ethnic backgrounds were significantly more likely to be charged for a comparable offence than white British defendants...

In response to the findings, several key actions will be put in place, including:

• A change to the Code for Crown Prosecutors to make sure that identifying and addressing bias is considered by prosecutors before a charging decision is made.
• The development and use of digital tools and learning, education, development and training to identify bias and support decision making.
• A new CPS and National Police Chiefs’ Council Race Disproportionality Board, which allows for continuous check and challenge between prosecutors and police.
• We will also improve how the CPS works with other agencies to address racial bias within the criminal justice process.
• A Joint Enterprise Scrutiny Panel in every CPS area to provide feedback on our decision-making and approach in cases which can disproportionately involve defendants from minoritised communities.
• The plan will be implemented over a three-year period and CPS will have continual engagement with stakeholders, including our independent Disproportionality Advisory Group.

A world-first security agreement has been reached between Iraq and the UK government to target people smuggling gangs and strengthen border security co-operation. The UK will also support Iraq law enforcement to tackle other serious organised crime, including countering narcotics. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper visited Iraq and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) this week to seal a series of co-operation deals, to tackle shared threats and boost the security of its citizens...

The joint statement on border security, signed with Federal Government of Iraq Interior Minister Abdulameer Al-Shimmeri, will build on operational work already being conducted between UK law enforcement, including the National Crime Agency, and Iraq. It sets out a blueprint for both countries to tackle of people smuggling and wider border security issues and pave the way for deeper collaboration in the future. It will include new formal processes for regular engagement. The statement is backed up by a wider declaration of intent to tackle serious organised crime, which incorporates organised immigration crime, as well as other high harm crimes including drug smuggling, modern slavery and illicit finance. The Home Secretary and representatives in the country also reiterated their drive to continue to work together to counter terrorism. Some £300,000 from the UK Integrated Security Fund will be spent on training at the border to counter organised immigration crime and narcotics. On returns, the UK and Iraq have reaffirmed their commitment to enhance co-operation to ensure those who have no right to be in the UK can be returned swiftly, while the UK government will continue to respect international law and protect human rights...