Lord Chief Justice 'reasonably confident' criminal justice system can overcome problems

The Lord Chief Justice is 'reasonably confident' that the criminal justice system can overcome the problems it currently faces, dispelling fears it is at 'breaking point'.

Speaking at a press conference earlier this week, Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd said that delays in getting cases to trial, long investigations, and increases in crimes such as sexual offending and cybercrime demand greater resources for the justice system to work efficiently and effectively.

Regarding the issue of long investigations, Lord Thomas believes it was important to progress them as quickly as possible but expressed concern about introducing absolute time limits during the process.

'I do think the process of justice is from beginning to end and keeping an overall view on timeliness is essential but it has to be judged on the facts of any particular case.'

On getting cases to trial, the Lord Chief Justice said: 'The current position is that we are beginning to bring down the delay in getting cases to trial and that to my mind is the most important thing.

'[Long investigations are] not a matter within my responsibility but the responsibility for bringing people to trial absolutely is and providing we get the resources I hope we will continue to do it but we do need much better long-term planning.'

Lord Thomas attributed a rise in the number of sexual offence cases to the improvement of the treatment witnesses receive at the police station, by the prosecution authorities, and in court.

For the year ending June 2015, figures from the Office for National Statistics showed there were 31,621 rapes and 63,861 other sexual offences in England and Wales, the highest number since the records were introduced in 2002/03.

In addition to increases in the detection of sexual offences, the Lord Chief Justice also recognised an increase in cybercrime and anticipated an increase in terrorism cases in the future.

With this in mind, he said he believed it was 'important for [the profession] to have the resources to deal with it and also to modernise the systems.'

He also referred to Sir Brian Leveson's recommendations in the 'Review of Efficiency in Criminal Proceedings', highlighting his approval and its 'acceptance by 'one hundred percent by the government.'

In the report, Leveson recognised the role IT should play in the future and Lord Thomas was in agreement, outlining the benefits of modern technology when questioned about whether the cost of court fees and legal assistance is diminishing access to justice.

'Fees have been rising at quite a considerable rate. Secondly, legal aid has been diminished and lawyers, the market has been good for them on the whole. Legal fees are now quite high,' he said.

'We also have an expensive process. Lord Woolf pioneered these great reforms and was promised, in 1999, IT. It has never come and, added to that, we have terrible problems in managing the workload.'

In his final remarks, Lord Thomas reiterated the need for greater resources to help the criminal justice system: 'Providing we can reform and modernise, taking IT, I am reasonably confident that our criminal justice system will cope with the problems that I can today foresee. Without proper investment, then the picture is very, very different.'

Matthew Rogers is an editorial assistant at Solicitors Journal matthew.rogers@solicitorsjournal.co.uk