Source · Select Committees · Justice Committee
Recommendation 14
14
Deferred
Crown Court timeliness failures cause injustice, requiring long-term capacity investment.
Conclusion
The current situation on timeliness in the Crown Court is causing significant injustice. The pandemic has made the situation worse, but the factors responsible for increased delays over the past decade are deep-rooted. A long-term approach to investment in the capacity of the Crown Court and the wider criminal justice system is required to improve the situation on timeliness. (Paragraph 50) Timeliness in the Crown Court
Government response summary AI-generated
The government stated that case listing is a judicial responsibility, but it supports efforts to improve effectiveness. It also mentioned working on Section 28 rollout and developing proposals for enhanced court provision for victims of sexual violence, with further details to be available later.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Government Response
Deferred
HM Government · verbatim extract
Deferred
The department recognises the impact that delays to justice, exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic, have on victims, witnesses and defendants. We invested a quarter of a billion pounds to support recovery in the 2020/21 financial year. Between July 2020 and July 2021, we also opened a maximum of 60 Nightingale courtrooms at any one time to boost capacity and help tackle the delays caused by the pandemic. We have extended 30 Nightingale courtrooms including 22 Crown courtrooms beyond March 2022, dependant on local need. We now have around 500 Crown courtrooms available for hearings and trials which is higher than pre-pandemic levels. As part of the Spending Review, we are providing an extra £477 million for the Criminal Justice System as a starting point to help to improve waiting times for victims of crime and reduce the Crown Court backlog to an estimated 53,000 cases by March 2025. The criminal justice system is complex with many moving parts, and delays can be caused by any of the parties involved. There are processes in place which must be followed to ensure a fair trial for all. Expectations on timeliness were set out in Better Case Management (BCM), a judicially-led initiative introduced in 2016 which aims for robust case management, a reduced number of hearings, maximum participation and engagement from every participant within the system, and efficient compliance with the Criminal Procedure Rules and Practice and Court Directions. The department has published the CJS Delivery Data Dashboard (formerly called CJS Scorecards) which increase transparency across the system, and we are working with the judiciary and partners across the criminal justice system to improve timeliness. The judicially-led Crown Court Improvement Group is reinvigorating BCM, and the department is proceeding with the Court Reform programme to make court processes more efficient. The department is also ensuring capacity across the system and working to reduce demand in the Crown Court, for example, by extending magistrates’ sentencing powers. The Criminal Courts—Timeliness in the Crown Court
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