Courts Minister Heidi Alexander announces fast-track Single Justice Procedure reform

Evening Standard

Courts Minister Heidi Alexander has announced a major overhaul of the Single Justice Procedure, in a victory for The Standard’s investigation into the troubled fast-track court process. The Labour minister told Parliament on Tuesday she is hauling prosecuting bodies - including train operators, police forces, TV Licensing and the DVLA – in for meetings in the next few weeks for talks on new public interest checks on cases they bring to court. Ms Alexander has already ordered courts officials to redesign the Single Justice Procedure notice sent to defendants, to make it clearer for those charges with criminal offences. And she has promised to confront train operators over “poor practices” in the courts after a string of embarrassing scandals“I won’t hesitate to fundamentally reform this system if that is what it takes,” she pledged to Parliament.The announcement comes after an award-winning Standard investigation exposed the reality of cases passing through the Single Justice Procedure, a courts process mired in secrecy where defendants are convicted and sentenced behind-closed-doors.

Transcript

00:00Mr. Speaker I have listened carefully to concerns raised about the single justice

00:04procedure. As a first step I have asked the Courts and Tribunals Service to

00:09redesign the SJP notice and make it clearer. I will also be calling in SJP

00:15prosecutors to discuss ways in which we could ensure the public interest is

00:20considered by them in advance of making prosecutions.

00:24The picture. Mr. Speaker earlier this year a decision by the Chief Magistrate

00:28overturned the use of SJP for rail fines, potentially nullifying and requiring the

00:33refunding of as many as 74,000 fines. It's been reported in the past few days

00:37that LNER has been bringing similar prosecutions under SJP without supplying

00:42any evidence at all. I don't make any assumption about the guilt or innocence

00:46of anyone involved in these prosecutions but justice must be open, it must be

00:51clear and it must be fair. It is unfair to expect people to engage with a process

00:57without it being clear what evidence has been laid against them. Can the Minister

01:01confirm that her department will keep these principles at the heart of all of

01:05our justice practices including SJP's? I will raise the evidential questions

01:12referred to by my honourable friend with representatives of the train operating

01:16companies when they and other SJP prosecutors join me in discussions in

01:20the next few weeks. I am clear that the single justice procedure is vital for

01:25the efficient running of the Magistrates Court, however it must

01:29operate fairly and effectively. Let me say this, I will not tolerate poor

01:34practice and I won't hesitate to fundamentally reform this system if that

01:39is what is required.

Category

Transcript

Comments

Recommended