The Secret Barrister

by The Secret Barrister

  13. Home Affairs Committee Third Report, Session 1996–1997, ‘Freemasonry in the Police and the Judiciary’, vol II (1997).

  14. See e.g. Lord Justice Auld’s ‘Review of the Criminal Courts in England and Wales (2001)’; ‘Criminal Justice: the Way Ahead’, Home Office, February 2001.

  15. HC Justice Committee, ‘The role of the magistracy’, op. cit., ch 3; P Gibbs, ‘Magistrates: Representatives of the People?’ (2014), http:­//­trans­form­jus­tice.org.uk­/­main­/wp-con­tent/­up­loads/­2014­/01­/­Trans­form-Jus­tice_magis­trates-Jan-2014.pdf

  16. Crown Prosecution Service, Annual Report 2016–17, tables 3 and 7, https:­//­www.gov.uk­/­go­vern­ment­/up­loads­/sys­tem/­­up­loads/­attach­ment_data­/file­/­628­968/CPS_an­nual_re­port_­2016_17.pdf These totals include cases ‘proved in absence’, where a defendant does not attend their trial and the court decides to proceed anyway. These are more common in the magistrates’ court than the Crown Court, but even adjusting the figures by removing these leaves a magistrates’ conviction rate of 60.2 per cent (28,424 convictions out of 47,193 trials).

  17. Under the Marian Committal Statute of 1555.

  18. John H Langbein, The Origins of Adversary Criminal Trial, Oxford University Press, 2005, p.40.

  19. R v Bingham Justices (Jowitt), quoted in The Times, 3 July 1974.

  20. Transform Justice, P Gibbs, ‘The role of the magistrate?’, January 2016, http:­//­www.­trans­form­justice.org.uk­/­wp-con­tent­/up­loads­/2016­/03­/­TJ-JAN_JUS­TICE-COMMI­TEE-EN­QUIRY_FOR-PRINT.pdf

  21. HC Justice Commitee, op. cit., §79–83.

  22. P Gibbs, ‘The role of the magistrate?’, op. cit.

  23. Transform Justice, P Gibbs, ‘Fit for purpose: do magistrates get the training and development they need?’, December 2014, http:­//­trans­form­jus­tice.org.uk­/­main­/wp-con­tent­/uploads­/2013­/05/­­TJ_MAGIS­TRATES-TRAINING.pdf

  24. The Bach Commission on Access to Justice, Interim Report, November 2016, p.7, http:­//­www.fa­bians.org.uk­/­wp-con­tent/­up­loads­/2016­/11­/­Ac­cess-to-Jus­tice_fi­nal_web.pdf

  25. Ministry of Justice, Decision Impact Assessment on Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service proposals on the provision of courts services in England and Wales, IA MoJ003/2016, https:­//­con­sult.jus­tice.gov.uk­/­di­gital-commu­nica­tions/­pro­posal-on-the-pro­vi­sion-of-court-and-tri­bunal-es­/re­sults/­im­pact-assess­ment.pdf; Justice Committee, ‘The role of the magistracy’, §84.

  26. ‘The strengths and skills of the Judiciary in the Magistrates’ Courts’, Ipsos Mori, November 2011, http:­//­www.jus­tice.gov.uk­/­down­loads/­pub­lica­tions/­­re­search-and-ana­lysis­/moj-re­search­/streng­ths-skil­ls-ju­di­ciary.pdf

  27. ‘DPP under fire at justice committee’, The Law Society Gazette, 15 December 2015, https:­//­www.law­gaze­tte.co.uk­/­law/­dpp-un­der-fi­re-at-jus­tice-commi­ttee/­505­2738.artic­le

  28. 8,304 staff were employed by the CPS in 2010 (CPS Annual Report, 2010, Our People, http:­//­www.cps.gov.uk­/­pub­lica­tions/­reports­/2010­/­our_people.html). In 2016/17, the number employed was 5,639 (CPS Annual Report, 2016/17, p.29, https:­//­www.cps.gov.uk­/­pub­lica­tions/­docs/­an­nual_report_2016_17.pdf)

  29. R (DPP) v Birmingham Magistrates’ Court [2017] EWHC 3444 (Admin). Fortunately, the prosecution appealed and the High Court quashed the DJ’s refusal to adjourn and directed that the trial go ahead on a new date.

  30. Sentencing Council, ‘Allocation Definitive Guideline’ (2015), https:­//­www.­sen­tencing­coun­cil.org.uk/­wp-con­tent­/up­loads/­Allo­cation_Guide­line_2015.pdf

  31. Ministry of Justice, ‘Transforming Our Justice System’, (2016), https:­//­www.gov.uk/­govern­ment­/up­loads/­sys­tem/­up­loads/attach­ment_data­/file/­553261­/joint-vi­sion-state­ment.pdf

  32. Section 154 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003.

  3. Imprisoning the Innocent: Remand and Bail

  1. D Blunkett, ‘Radical reform to prison can rehabilitate’, Observer, 3 February 2002, https:­//­www.the­guar­dian.com/­poli­tics­/2002­/feb­/03­/­labour­2001­to­2005.­prisons­and­probation

  2. Howard League, ‘Revealed: The wasted millions spent on needless remand’, August 2014, http:­//­www.howard­league.org­/­need­less-re­mand/, cited in E Cape and T Smith, ‘The practice of pre-trial detention in England and Wales: Research report’ (2016), University of the West of England, Bristol, pp.31–33, https:­//­www.fair­trials.org­/­wp-con­tent­/up­loads/­Coun­try-Re­port-Eng­land-and-Wa­les-MA­STER-Final-PRINT.pdf. Figures for the year up to 2016 were broadly similar – a total of approximately 67,200 persons remanded by the magistrates’ or Crown Court. Ministry of Justice, Criminal Justice Statistics Quarterly, December 2016, ‘Remands – Crown Court’ and ‘Remands – Magistrates’ Court’, https:­//­www.gov.uk­/­govern­ment­/sta­tis­tics/­­cri­minal-jus­tice-sys­tem-sta­tis­tics-quar­terly-de­cember-2016

  3. Section 81 of the Senior Courts Act 1981. If the case is staying in the magistrates’ court, a second application can be made, advancing the same argument, on the occasion subsequent to the first appearance (but no other – Sched I, Part IIA of the 1976 Act). So technically you could get three bites at the cherry – first appearance, second appearance and appeal to Crown Court judge. The court thereafter remains under a technical duty to consider bail at each subsequent hearing, without hearing submissions, but absent new information the remanded defendant is going nowhere.

  4. The custody time limit for trial of a summary only offence is fifty-six days; for an either-way offence tried summarily, it is seventy days.

  5. Section 240A of the Criminal Justice Act 2003.

  6. R v Defreitas [2011] EWCA Crim 1254.

  7. In 2016, 67,214 persons were remanded by the magistrates’ and Crown Courts. Of these, 9,954 were acquitted or had the charges discontinued or dismissed. Crown Court: Ministry of Justice, Criminal Justice Statistics Quarterly, December 2016, ‘Remands – Crown Court’ and ‘Remands – Magistrates’ Court’, https:­//­www.gov.uk­/­govern­ment­/sta­tis­tics/­cri­minal-jus­tice-sys­tem-statis­tics-quar­terly-de­cem­ber-2016

  8. C Foote, ‘The Coming Constitutional Crisis in Bail: I and II’, (1965) 113 Univ. Pa. L. Rev 959, cited in T Schnacke, ‘The History of Bail and Pretrial Release’ (2010), https:­//­www.pre­trial.org/­down­load/pji-re­ports/­PJI-History per cent20of per cent20Bail per cent20Revised.pdf

  9. Section 4 of the Bail Act 1976.

  10. Section 5 of the Bail Act 1976.

  11. Criminal Procedure Rule 8.3 – Where a defendant is produced before the magistrates from police custody, this is the bare minimum. Where a defendant is not produced from police custody, the defence are entitled to a summary of the defendant’s police interview and any witness statement or exhibit that the prosecutor considers material.

  12. Cape and Smith, op. cit., p.54.

  13. Ibid., p.53.

  14. Ibid., p.117.

  15. Section 22 of the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985.

  4. Watching the Guilty Walk Free: Prosecuting on the Cheap

  1. ‘Is the CPS on “brink of collapse”?’, BBC News (Danny Shaw), 15 September 2015, http:­//­www.bbc.co.uk­/­news­/uk-3424­6664.

  2. See for further examples The Prosecutors ‘Conventions’ 2009 http:­//­www.cps.gov.uk­/­le­gal/p_to_r­/pro­secu­tors__­convention/

  3. Section 6(1) of the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985.

  4. Crown Prosecution Service, Annual Report 2016–17, https:­//­www.cps.gov.uk­/­pub­lica­tions/­docs­/­an­nual_re­port_2016_17.pdf

  5. The Code for Crown Prosecutors (2013), https:­//­www.cps.gov.uk­/­pub­lica­tions­/docs/­co­de_20­13_acces­sible_­english.pdf

  6. There are restricted circumstances in which a lesser test (the ‘Threshold Test’) can be applied, but we need not worry about that for now.

  7. See The Director’s Guidance o
n Charging, 5th ed (2013), http:­//­www.cps.gov.uk­/­Pub­lica­tions­/direc­tors_­gui­dance/­dpp_gui­dance_­5.html#a11

  8. Section 39 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861, seeing as you ask.

  9. Her Majesty’s Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate and Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, ‘Joint Inspecting of the provision of charging decisions’, May 2015.

  10. HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate, ‘Business as usual? A follow-up review of the effectiveness of the Crown Prosecution Service contribution to the Transforming Summary Justice Initiative’, June 2017 at §4.21, https:­//­www.­jus­tice­ins­pec­torates.gov.uk­/­hmcpsi­/wp-con­tent­/up­loads/­sites­/3/20­17/06/­TSJ_FU_thm_June17_rpt.pdf

  11. HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate, ‘Better Case Management: A Snapshot’, November 2016, at p.7, https:­//­www.­jus­tice­inspec­torates.gov.uk­/­hmcpsi/wp-con­tent­/up­loads­/sites­/3­/2016­/­09/BCM_th­m_Nov16_rpt.pdf

  12. A joint inspection of prosecution disclosure by HM CPS Inspectorate and HM Inspector of Constabulary in 2017 found ‘significant failure’ across the police and CPS (§1.4). Out of the cases reviewed, in 78 per cent the police compliance with disclosure was ‘poor’ or ‘fair’, with the figure for the CPS 77 per cent. ‘Making It Fair: A joint inspection of the disclosure of unused material in volume Crown Court cases’, July 2017, http:­//­www.­justice­inspec­tora­tes.gov.uk­/­cjji­/wp-con­tent­/up­loads­/sites­/2/­2017/­07/­CJJI_DSC_thm_July17_rpt.pdf

  13. 8,304 staff were employed by the CPS in 2010 (CPS Annual Report, 2010, Our People, http:­//­www.cps.gov.uk­/­pub­lica­tions­/re­ports/­20­10/our_people.html). In 2016–17, the number employed was 5,639 (2016–17 report, ibid., p.29); Crown Prosecution Service Annual Report 2014–15, https:­//­www.cps.gov.uk­/­pub­lica­tions/­docs/­an­nual_re­port_2014_15.pdf

  14. Daily Express, ‘£50m chaos of lawyers fleeing the CPS’, 8 September 2013, http:­//­www.ex­press.co.uk­/­news­/uk­/427­738/50m-chaos-of-law­yers-flee­ing-CPS

  15. CPS Annual Report 2016–17, op. cit., p.14.

  16. Royal Commission on Criminal Justice (1993), §17.

  17. The ‘Peter Principle’, for the uninitiated, is the concept in management theory that postulates that in hierarchical organizations, ‘managers rise to the level of their incompetence’. Laurence J Peter and Raymond Hull, The Peter Principle: Why Things Always Go Wrong, New York: William Morrow and Company, 1969, p.8. It was also, you may recall, a mid-1990s sitcom starring Jim Broadbent.

  18. CPS expenditure in 2016–17 was £491m, see Annual Report, op. cit., p.14. The cost of the subsidy for TV licences for over-75s is an estimated £750m. ‘BBC to take on £750m cost of subsidy for over-75s in licence fee deal’, Guardian, 6 July 2015, http:­//­www.the­guar­dian.com­/­media­/2015­/jul­/06/­bbc-pay-co­st-free-tv-licen­ces-over-75s-fee-deal

  19. Schedule 3 para 2(2) of the Crime and Disorder Act 1988.

  20. Between September 2010 and September 2016, the number of police officers fell by 18,991, or 13 per cent. Overall police budget, excluding counter-terrorism grants, fell by 20 per cent between 2010 and 2015. ‘Reality Check: What has happened to police numbers?’, BBC News, 26 May 2017, http:­//­www.bbc.co.uk­/­news/­elec­tion-2017-400­60677

  21. CPS expenditure in 2016–17 was £491 million, ibid. Divided by 66 million (estimated population of United Kingdom mid-2016, according to Office of National Statistics https:­//­www.ons.gov.uk­/abou­tus/­trans­paren­cy­and­gover­nance/­free­dom­of­infor­mationfoi/­uk­popu­lation2017, accessed on 3 December 2017) gives a per capita cost of 2.04 pence per day.

  22. HM Chief Inspector of the CPS: Five Year review and annual report 2014–15, Executive Summary, https:­//­www.­jus­tice­ins­pec­torates.gov.uk­/­hmcpsi/­wp-con­tent/­up­loads­/sites­/3/­2015/­03/­HM­CPSI_CI­AR_2010-15_Exec­Sum.pdf

  23. BBC News, ‘Is the CPS on “brink of collapse”?’ (Danny Shaw), 15 September 2015, http:­//­www.bbc.co.uk/­news/­uk-3424­6664

  24. HMCPSI, ‘Thematic Review of the CPS Rape and Serious Sexual Offences Units’, February 2016, https:­//­www.­jus­tice­inspec­tora­tes.gov.uk­/­hmcpsi­/wp-con­tent­/up­loads­/si­tes/3/­2016/­02/­RAS­SO_thm_Feb­16_rpt.pdf

  25. R Jory QC and S Jones, ‘The aged accused’, Counsel Magazine, November 2016, https:­//­www.­counsel­maga­zine.co.uk/­ar­ti­cles/­the-aged-a­ccused

  26. The Times, ‘Justice system under threat from “tsunami of sex cases”’, 13 May 2017, https:­//­www.the­times.co.uk/­arti­cle/­jus­tice-sys­tem-un­der-thr­eat-from-tsuna­mi-of-sex-cases-snmz­jlbjq

  5. The Devil’s Greatest Trick: Putting the Victim First

  1. ‘Guaranteed support for victims of crime’, 29 March 2013, https:­//­www.gov.uk/­govern­ment/­news­/guaran­teed-sup­port-for-vic­tims-of-crime

  2. House of Commons Public Accounts Committee, ‘Efficiency in the Criminal Justice System’, 23 May 2016, p.11, http:­//­www.pub­lica­tions.­par­liament.uk­/pa­/cm20­1617/­cmselect­/cmpu­bacc/­72/7202.htm

  3. Ibid., p.1.

  4. Ibid., pp.9–11.

  5. Ibid., p.5.

  6. Ibid., p.15.

  7. Ibid., p.6.

  8. Total of outstanding cases at the Crown Court was 39,600 as of June 2017. Ministry of Justice, Criminal Justice Statistics Quarterly, England & Wales, April to June 2017, (28 September 2017), https:­//­www.gov.uk/­govern­ment­/up­loads­/sys­tem/­up­loads/attach­ment_data­/­file/­6475­87/­ccsq-bul­letin-apr-jun-2017.pdf

  9. National Audit Office, ‘Efficiency in the Criminal Justice System’, 1 March 2016, pp.12–16; Ministry of Justice, Criminal Justice Statistics Quarterly, June 2017, 28 September 2017, table T4, https:­//­www.gov.uk/­govern­ment/sta­tis­tics/­cri­minal-court-statis­tics-quar­ter­ly-april-to-june-2017

  10. National Audit Office, ‘Efficiency in the Criminal Justice System’, 1 March 2016, p.17.

  11. HL Deb, vol 774, 14 July 2016, https:­//­han­sard.par­liament.uk/­lords­/20­16-07-14­/de­bates­/16071­4390­00431/­Courts­Resour­cing­And­Staffing

  12. ‘Foleshill rape trial: Judge orders re-trial after interpreter mistranslates evidence’, Coventry Telegraph, 2 August 2016, http:­//­www.­coven­try­tele­graph.net/­news­/coven­try-news/­fole­shill-ra­pe-t­rial-jud­ge-or­ders-116­95908

  13. ‘Nepalese officer Kumar Lama torture trial adjourned’, BBC News, 18 March 2015, http:­//­www.bbc.co.uk/­news/­uk-eng­land-sus­sex-3193­2371

  14. Independent Review of Quality Arrangements under the MoJ Language Services Framework Agreement 2014, https:­//­www.gov.uk/­govern­ment­/up­loads­/sys­tem/­up­loads/attach­ment_data­/file/­388333/­matrix-report.pdf

  15. ‘Thousands of court cases adjourned due to failures in interpreting services’, Guardian, 4 May 2016, https:­//­www.the­guardian.com­/­law/­2016­/may­/04/­thou­sands-of-court-ca­ses-ad­journed-due-to-fail­ures-in-inter­pre­ting-ser­vices?pla­tform=hoot­suite

  16. Her Majesty’s Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate, Thematic Review of the CPS Rape and Serious Sexual Offences Units, February 2016, p.4, https:­//­www.­jus­tice­ins­pec­torates.gov.uk­/­hmcpsi/­wp-con­tent/­uploads/­sites/­3/2016­/­02/RA­SSO_thm_Feb16_rpt.pdf

  17. Ibid., p.31.

  18. Ibid., p.34.

  19. ‘Closures of courts and tribunals in England and Wales Announced’, BBC News, 11 February 2016, http://www.bbc.co.uk/­news/­uk-35­552199

  20. RASSO Thematic Review, op. cit., §4.19–21

  21. ‘An independent inquiry into allegations made against Lord Greville Janner’, 19 January 2016, http:­//­www.cps.gov.uk/­pub­lica­tions/­re­ports/­hen­riques_re­port_190116.pdf

  22. Crown Prosecution Service, ‘The decision not to prosecute Lord Janner – statement from the DPP’, 16 April 2015, http:­//­www.cps.gov.uk­/­news­/latest­_news­/lord_­janner/

  23. Section 41 of the Youth Justice and Crim
inal Evidence Act 1999.

  24. Prisons and Court Bill 2017, Notices of Amendments: 23 March 2017, https:­//­pub­lica­tions.­par­liament.uk/­pa/­bills/­cbill/­2016-20­17/0145/­amend­/pri­sons_rm_pbc_0323.1-2.html

  6. Defenceless and Indefensible

  1. This quotation is widely and frequently attributed to Clarence Darrow, memorializing beautifully his legacy as ‘Attorney of the Damned’, but as with so many legendary citations, verifying when, where and even if Darrow actually said it has proved beyond my wit.

  2. The Sentencing Guidelines for Reduction in Sentence for a Guilty Plea do provide for an exception to the general rule where ‘further information, assistance or advice is necessary before indicating plea’, which should cover the scenario outlined. However, once the plea is entered, it is at the discretion of the sentencing court whether they accept your argument to fall within this exception. There are no guarantees. ‘Reduction in Sentence for a Guilty Plea Definitive Guideline’ (2017), Sentencing Council, p.7.

  3. R v Lawrence [2013] EWCA Crim 1054; 2 Cr App R 24.

  4. See for example Criminal Law Solicitors’ Association statement on prosecution inadequate or late disclosure, 6 June 2016, https:­//­www.clsa.co.uk/­in­dex.php?q­=clsa-state­ment-on-pro­secu­tion-in­ade­quate-or-late-dis­closure

  5. CrimPR 1.1, cited in Director of Public Prosecutions v Chorley Justices [2006] EWHC 1795 (Admin).

  6. Malcolm v Director of Public Prosecutions [2007] EWHC 363 (Admin).

  7. As given in evidence (at 290) to House of Commons Constitutional Affairs Committee, ‘Implementation of the Carter Review of Legal Aid’, 3rd Report 2006–7, vol. I, §67.

  8. Average hourly rate of an electrician quoted at £90 per hour, http:­//­www.my-plum­ber.co.uk/­pric­es/

  9. Ministry of Justice, ‘Transforming Legal Aid: Delivering a more credible and efficient system’, April 2013, https:­//­www.gov.uk/­govern­ment/­consul­tations/­trans­forming-le­gal-aid-deli­vering-a-more-cre­dible-and-ef­ficient-sys­tem. 46 per cent between 1998 and 2005, as compared to 37 per cent over the same period