Member

This measure will also allow us to begin to address the remand problem in our prisons, but it will do more than that. This Government inherited a record Crown Court backlog. Waits for trials have grown so long that some cases are not heard for years. The impact on victims of crime is profound. For some, justice delayed is, as the old saying goes, justice denied, as victims choose to withdraw from the justice process altogether rather than face the pain of a protracted legal battle. By extending magistrates’ powers, we will be able to make progress on addressing the Crown Court backlog, and we will free the Crown Court to take on more of the cases that only it can hear. This measure is expected to free up an equivalent of 2,000 sitting days within the Crown Court each year, which will add capacity on top of the additional 500 sitting days that this Government funded on taking office.