The justice minister has promised to ‘restore confidence’ in the troubled miscarriage of justice watchdog after its chair finally stepped down early after months of pressure. In an exchange in the House of Commons yesterday, Andy Slaughter MP, chair of the justice committee and a member of the APPG on miscarriages of justice, sought clarity on plans for the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC). Pic: Andy Aitchison
‘We have just witnessed the CCRC chair being prised out of her job, six months after the Secretary of State described her as “unable to fulfil her duties”. When will a new chair be appointed, and will this be accompanied by a wider review of the CCRC, to restore confidence in that damaged organisation?’ The justice minister Sarah Sackman said ‘we need to restore confidence in the CCRC’. ‘That is why we are taking the decision not only to appoint an interim chair to steady the ship but, more importantly, to implement the recommendations of the Henley review so that we can restore confidence in this important institution, particularly in the light of the appalling miscarriage of justice in the case of Andrew Malkinson.’
There was a predictable standoff between the shadow justice minister Robert Jenrick and the Lord Chancellor over the court backlog which was, according to the Conservative MP, growing by 500 cases every month. Victims were ‘being forced to put their lives on hold while they wait for a trial date’ as ‘half of all the courtrooms [at the Old Bailey] sit empty’. ‘Who is the obstacle to resolving this? Is it the Justice Secretary, who is content for rape trials to be scheduled for as far off as 2027, or is it the Chancellor, and the Justice Secretary has just had rings run around her by the Treasury?’ he asked.
Shabana Mahmood dismissed his analysis as ‘absolutely outrageous’ arguing that ‘only six months ago’ his Government was in charge which ‘all but ran our justice system into the ground’. ‘I do not recall seeing him standing up and speaking about delays for rape victims, or indeed any other kind of victim, when he was on this side of the House. His critique would have more force were it not for the fact that this Government, having come to office only six months ago, have increased Crown court sitting capacity by 2,500 days.’
According to Sir Nicholas Dakin, parliamentary under-secretary of state for sentencing, the Labour government had increased the number of sitting days in the Crown court by 2,000 this financial year and increased criminal legal aid spend by ‘up to £92 million a year’. He also pointed to plans to build 14,000 new prison places ‘to ensure we always have the space to lock up dangerous criminals’ and launched the Women’s Justice Board ‘with one clear goal – to send fewer women to prison.’
He was challenged by Plaid Cymru’s Liz Saville Roberts on plans to improve prison conditions. Sir Nicholas said there was a commitment to plans to invest £220 million in prison and probation service maintenance in ’24-25, and up to £300 million in ’25-26. Saville Roberts, co-chair of the justice unions parliamentary group and member of the APPG on Miscarriages of Justice, said that the extra money ‘to tackle the squalid state of our prisons’ was welcome but ‘given the £2 billion maintenance backlog’ would ‘not touch the sides’. ‘This shows exactly why the privatisation of prison maintenance is a failed model,’ she said. ‘Private contractors may win contracts on low bids, but billions come in as extra cost later.’