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Select Committee · Justice Committee

The role of adult custodial remand in the criminal justice system

Status: Closed Opened: 4 Mar 2022 Closed: 14 Sep 2023 15 recommendations 13 conclusions 1 report

This inquiry sought to understand why the number of people on remand has increased since Covid, whether remand to custody is fit for purpose and being appropriately applied, and what effect custodial remand has on the prison population. Read the call for evidence to find out more about the inquiry .

Clear

Reports

1 report
Title HC No. Published Items Response
Seventh Report - The role of adult custodial remand in the… HC 264 17 Jan 2023 28 Responded

Recommendations & Conclusions

2 items
26 Conclusion Seventh Report - The role of adult cus… Accepted in Part

Video links' convenience must not compromise defendant access to justice in key hearings.

We recognise that for routine hearings there is a benefit of using video links from prison so a remanded defendant does not have to experience frequent disruption going to and from court. However, the convenience of video technology must not affect a defendant’s access to justice, and should not become …

Government response. The MoJ will consider what research might be undertaken to provide assurance that the use of remote technologies such as video links does not have any undue adverse impacts on remand hearings and on the rate of custodial remand.
Ministry of Justice
28 Recommendation Seventh Report - The role of adult cus… Accepted in Part

Publish comprehensive quarterly data on remanded defendants, including bail refusals and demographics.

It is only on the basis of good quality data in respect of the use of custodial remand that there can be effective policy-making. More data needs to be collected and published on remanded defendants, particularly in relation to the reasons for refusing bail, the length of time people are …

Government response. The government partially accepts the recommendation, rejecting a new dedicated quarterly publication for remand data but committing to improving existing publications. They will add a new table on remand prison population by ethnicity to the Offender Management Statistics and will …
Ministry of Justice