Source · Select Committees · Justice Committee
Recommendation 39
39
Accepted
Paragraph: 130
Review the Single Justice Procedure to enhance transparency through timely publication of information.
Recommendation
The Government should review the procedure and seek to enhance its transparency by ensuring that any information that would have been available had the cases been heard in open court is published in a timely fashion.
Government Response Summary
The government states that courts already provide more detailed information on SJP cases than traditional proceedings, and *may* explore SJP transparency further through a 2023 call for evidence.
Paragraph Reference:
130
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
104. While the Criminal Procedure Rules require all courts to give certain additional information on individual cases upon request from the media and other interested third parties, courts are currently obliged to give more information on cases prosecuted under the SJP. This includes the prosecution statement of facts and the defendant’s statement in mitigation. 105. In addition, a list of pending SJP cases is published online each day and is available to the public. The media also receive a more detailed list of these cases so that they can report on them if they so wish. The media can therefore receive more information about cases dealt with under this procedure than traditional proceedings in open court, where they only receive such information if they actually attend the hearing. 106. The SJP may be one of the themes we will explore via the call for evidence we will be launching in 2023. We will carefully consider stakeholders’ views, alongside the conclusions and recommendations in the JSC’s open justice report, before making any future decisions.