Source · Select Committees · Justice Committee
Recommendation 17
17
Deferred
Produce a detailed long-term plan to increase judicial capacity in the Crown Court.
Recommendation
We share the view of the judiciary and the MoJ that judicial capacity is, at present, the most pressing constraint in the courts system. We welcome the Government’s plans to recruit more judges. The Government should learn the lesson from past decisions that have led to a reduction in judicial capacity. Increasing the number of judges is a difficult task which requires a long-term approach and a sustained focus. The MoJ should produce a detailed plan on how it intends to increase the number of judges in the Crown Court in the long-term. (Paragraph 59) Court Capacity 45 Physical capacity in the Crown Court
Government Response Summary
The government did not provide a detailed plan to increase the number of judges in the Crown Court. Instead, it explained how increasing magistrates' court sentencing powers aims to reduce the Crown Court backlog and free up sitting days, and mentioned monitoring the impact of this policy.
Government Response
Deferred
HM Government
Deferred
Increasing magistrates’ court sentencing powers will deliver swifter access to justice and further assist court recovery. The policy aims to improve efficiency in the criminal courts, reduce the backlog in the Crown Court and speed up case completion by retaining more cases in magistrates’ courts. Increasing powers in this way will move up to 8,000 sentencing hearings from the Crown Court to the magistrates’ court, resulting in a one- off reduction in the Crown Court backlog of about 1,700 cases. Then, because those 8,000 cases no longer have to be heard in the Crown Court, the policy will free up approximately 1,700 Crown Court sitting days a year for other work, which could allow an extra 500 jury trials per year to take place. To understand the impact that the extension of magistrates’ courts sentencing powers has on the Crown Court system, we are monitoring and assessing relevant court and prison data on a monthly basis, which will give the best chance of identifying impacts of the policy as quickly as possible. We also supplemented this change by legislating in the Judicial Review and Courts Act for a power to vary the limit on the length of sentence that the magistrates’ court may give to either 6 months or 12 months in the future. This power will ensure we have maximum flexibility in the future to respond to changing circumstances. The Criminal Courts—Royal Commission on the criminal justice system