Magistrates in England and Wales will be given discretion to sentence offenders for up to 12 months, as announced by Justice Secretary, Shabana Mahmood. The new plan aims to reduce the backlog of cases waiting for trial and shrink the population of remand prisoners. Official documentation is due 28 October, and the changes will be implemented on 18 November.
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) is reviving the previous government’s attempt at enhancing the Magistrate’s sentencing power to ultimately relieve the prison population. There are approximately 17,000 remand prisoners waiting for trial in the Crown Court out of the total 87,028 prisoners in the UK. The government is concerned that the prison population has ‘almost reached full capacity.’
The MoJ projects a reduction in court delays proceeding with trial cases. Mahmood presented an estimate of 2,000 days left over for judges to handle cases requiring more scrutiny. The same as the previous plan, the move intends to achieve ‘swifter justice for victims,’ as stated by Mahmood.
Mary Prior KC, chair of the Criminal Bar Association, critiqued the MoJ’s plan as it would ‘only increase pressure on reduced prison space.’ The Justice Gap reported the previous government’s reversal in this scheme. It operated for ten months until it’s deactivation in March 2023.
Magistrates welcome the ‘additional responsibility’ as it is an initiative the court has ‘long campaigned for’, mentioned by Tom Franklin, the Magistrates’ Association’s chief executive. However, the court admits problems with lack of legal personnel to support the move. It further prompts ‘long-term, sustainable and considered investment’ in the criminal system.
‘Hundreds of trials being adjourned because of shortages of lawyers,’ was the outcome of the previous attempt, as reported by The Telegraph in 2023. The move resulted in higher prison population and minute changes in backlogs.
The Law Gazette reports that Legal professionals ‘remain unconvinced that the reduction in the remand population will offset this increase, which will continue even after the remand population has dropped as far as it can’.