Criminal Justice System
Justice for All
A radical and wide-ranging programme of reform for the Criminal Justice System was published in the Government White Paper, "Justice for All", on 17 July 2002. It sets out a coherent, long-term strategy to modernise the Criminal Justice System (CJS) from end to end - from detection to rehabilitation of offenders - with a clear focus on fighting and reducing crime.
Major reforms have already been put in place including reform of the police, an overhaul of the youth justice system and a dramatic drop in the time it takes to bring young offenders to court. Lessons learnt through joint working, including the Government's Street Crime Initiative have already made a difference to bringing together the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), the police and court administration. This White Paper builds on those foundations.
At the heart of the strategy is ensuring a better deal for victims and witnesses, fairer more efficient trials, clearer, consistent and constructive sentencing, more effective punishment and rehabilitation, safeguards for defendants' rights, and measures to join up the system and engage the public.
There are some parts of the CJS White Paper "Justice for All" where viewpoints are welcomed from all those in the community as well as participants and interest groups related to the criminal justice system.
Proposals include:
Download the "Justice for All" White Paper from the CJS Online website.
A better deal for victims and witnesses
Victims and witnesses can be left feeling ill-informed and badly treated by the CJS. Proposals throughout the White Paper will seek to ensure there is a fair balance between defence and prosecution and that the needs of victims and witnesses are considered at every stage. Measures include:
A national strategy for victims and witnesses to be published later this year
A Victims Code of Practice setting out what victims can expect from the criminal justice agencies
Give every service that comes into contact with victims a responsibility under the new Code to provide protection, support and information
A right of complaint to the Parliamentary Ombudsman for Victims and Witnesses
A new Independent Commissioner for Victims and Witnesses supported by a National Victims Advisory Panel to champion their interests
Introduce more measures for vulnerable and intimidated witnesses, including pre-recorded video evidence and screens around the witness box
Adopt some of the ideas being developed as part of the Street Crime Initiative, for example victim volunteers to accompany victims when giving statements
Extend specialised support to victims of road traffic incidents and their families
Appoint victim liaison officers to join Youth Offending Teams, as resources become available
Getting the process right from the start
Justice is too often not done because of the failure to get the process right from the start. No one has overall responsibility for making sure the prosecution and defence are ready to proceed and present their cases properly. While cases are delayed, nearly a quarter of defendants commit at least one offence whilst out on bail. The White Paper sets out a series of proposals designed to improve the initial stages of the justice process including:
Give the CPS responsibility for charging in all but routine cases
Take forward a full programme of measures to improve case preparation, including closer working between the police and CPS
Give the police power to impose conditions on bail before charge, coupled with measures to prevent offending while on bail
Incentives and sanctions to promote effective and focused case preparation
Radically improve the disclosure of information, with both the prosecution and defence obliged to disclose all information necessary to ensure the trial addresses the real issues
Make better use of technology and forensic and technological expertise to enable the police to get the evidence to make an effective case
Fairer more effective trials
There are too many cases in which tactical manoeuvres disrupt the process so a verdict is not reached and justice not done. Courts are deliberately over-booked on the basis that some cases will not go ahead as scheduled. Over 40% of victims and witnesses who attend to give evidence not called to do so on the day. This undermines confidence in the whole system. New measures aim to reduce delays and ensure swifter, fairer and more efficient trials that balance the rights of victims and the accused. Proposals include:
Over time we will bring the Crown Court and Magistrate's Court together under a unified administration as part of the Lord Chancellor's Department
Increase Magistrates' sentencing powers from 6 to 12 months
Provide for strengthened youth courts to deal with young offenders' accused of serious crimes
Extend the availability of preparatory hearings so issues can be announced and clarified in advance
Allow trial by judge alone in serious fraud and jury intimidation cases
Encourage early guilty pleas by introducing a clearer tariff of sentence discount for pleading guilty and arrangements where defendants could seek advance indication of what the discounted sentence would be if they pleaded guilty
Ensure appropriate safeguards so that innocent defendants are not put under pressure to plead guilty
Overhaul the rules of evidence including making available to judges and juries information on previous convictions and conduct where it is relevant, and extending the reported evidence available to magistrates, judges and juries
Reform the rule against double jeopardy so that in grave cases where compelling new evidence has come to light, an acquitted defendant can be tried for a second time for the same offence. This will be retrospective.
Give the prosecution the right of appeal against rulings that effectively terminate the prosecution before the jury decides
Putting sense back into sentencing
One of the key purposes of custody is to reduce crime once offenders are released yet half of all convicted criminals are re-convicted within two years. Prison can break up families, impede resettlement and have a devastating effect on children. At the same time there is no consistency in the approach to sentencing, there are extreme cases of variation of sentencing for similar crimes across the country.
The Government will put the sense back into sentencing and ensure sentences work to protect the public and punish and rehabilitate offenders. Proposals include:
Sentences to be based on what has been shown to work in reducing re-offending
Create a sentencing framework and establish a Sentencing Guidelines Council, chaired by the Lord Chief Justice to achieve greater consistency
Introduce a new graded framework to tailor sentences to the offender and the offence
Introduce within this framework a series of new and innovative sentences ranging from:
new suspended sentence called Custody Minus
reform of short custodial sentences and the introduction of Custody Plus
a new intermittent custody sentence, that denies liberty for example at the weekend, but allows the offender to continue working and maintain family ties, to
a new special sentence for dangerous sexual or violent offenders
Introduce an extended version of the Intensive Supervision and Surveillance Programme, so there is a greater opportunity for rehabilitation coupled with a reduce chance of re-offending
Ensure that, like adults, young offenders sentenced for serious offences will be released at the halfway point of the sentence and supervised all the way until the end of sentence
More effective punishment and rehabilitation
Our prison population is at record levels. Many prisoners receive short sentences that do not help with effective rehabilitation and resettlement, and often increase the chances of re-offending.
The CJS White Paper sets out the challenges faced by the correctional services and how by more collaborative working with other statutory agencies and the voluntary and community sectors they can deliver a sentence that reduces crime and help build safer more cohesive communities.
The Government will:
Give greater flexibility to probation officers to drug test offenders on release from custody
Pilot the "Going Straight" contract, a new rehabilitation programme for 18-20 year olds including reparation to victims and incentives to participate
Review reception and release procedures for all prisoners to ensure departing prisoners have the appropriate help to resettle
Embark on a Modernisation Programme to expand capacity in existing prisons, build new multi-functional community prisons, close prisons that are not fit for purpose
Benchmark public sector prisons and close or contract out those that do not meet the necessary standards
Review the categorisation of prisoners to ensure that we balance the needs of security with effective resettlement
Extend the remit of Multi-Agency Public Protection Panels, appointing independent lay members to the Panels and there will be a statutory requirement to include a wider range of agencies and local bodies
Measures to engage the public
The Criminal Justice System (CJS) relies on the participation of members of the public, as jurors, magistrates, witnesses and the thousands of individuals and community organisations that work to reduce crime and bring offenders to justice. Yet the system is seen as complex, intimidating and inaccessible to the public and less than half of those summoned for jury service actually serve.
The CJS exists to serve the public and it is essential that people understand and have confidence in the system. As the Criminal Justice System is reformed, the Government wants to build on Britain's strong civic tradition of public engagement in the delivery of justice. This will include:
Improve channels of communication between criminal justice agencies and the public
Continue to implement the findings of the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry in order to reduce racism in the Criminal Justice System, increase diversity and build the confidence of all sections of the community
Help people understand the criminal law by bringing it together into accessible documents available via the Internet
Make jury service an important part of citizenship and ensure juries better reflect all sections of society and are better supported
Implement a national strategy to raise the profile of the lay magistracy and encourage more people to apply from as wide a cross-section of the community as possible
Introduce more restorative justice schemes including extending the use of referral orders to young people
Increase the opportunity for community involvement in the criminal justice process including inviting members of the public to sit on the Multi-Agency Public Protection Panels (MAPPPs) which monitor and manage dangerous and high profile offenders in high profile communities
Focusing the Criminal Justice System on fighting and reducing crime and delivering justice
While the overall crime rate has been falling and has now stabilised, street crime, anti-social behaviour and the fear of crime remains unacceptably high. Under-reporting and under-recording remains a concern for crimes such as domestic violence and racist crimes.
The Government has already put in place a number of measures to tackle and reduce crime, including the Street Crime Initiative. In addition the White Paper proposes:
Extend the range of restraining orders
Put domestic violence murder reviews on a statutory footing
Make a breach of a non-molestation order a criminal offence
Provide anonymity for victims of domestic violence
Improve liaison between the civil and criminal courts and the family and criminal courts
Extend existing drug testing provisions to the under 18s, with parental or appropriate adult consent
Arrange referral to treatment services for young people with substance misuse problems, who currently either receive a reprimand or for whom the police take no further action
Joining up the system
Each criminal justice agency still has its own methods of recording defendants, offenders, charges and cases. This makes cross-referencing, case management and tracking virtually impossible and may lead to inappropriate decisions.
Getting the whole system to work together is essential to bring more offenders to justice, improve the service offered to victims and promote confidence in the work of all criminal justice agencies. Proposals in the White Paper include:
Deliver a strategic approach to IT integration across the CJS, investing over £600m over the next three years
Strengthen the Criminal Justice System Management Framework by setting up 42 local Criminal Justice Boards reporting to a new national Criminal Justice Board
Legislation to integrate the management of the courts within a single courts' organisation to replace existing Magistrates' Courts' Committees and the Court Service
Establish a new independent courts inspectorate that will have jurisdiction, for the first time, over the administration of the Crown Court
- Strengthen current performance measures by introducing a new information system and appoint Performance Officers to all Criminal Justice Areas
Last update: Tuesday, September 26, 2006