Every week it seems that another sticking plaster is applied to our crumbling justice system. Releasing prisoners early, cutting back on the supervision of offenders, reducing the flow of defendants into courts, and delaying the sentencing of offenders are all announcements that have been made in the last few weeks as the latest attempts to cope with a system that often feels like it is on the verge of meltdown.
What has also happened over this summer is that the justice system has been propelled onto the front pages of national newspapers and to the top of TV news bulletins because of the civil disorder that broke out across UK cities. This has brought national attention to the importance of a well-run, well-funded justice system for public wellbeing. And there is a growing public recognition that that isn’t what we have.
Things have come to a head recently with the crisis of prison overcrowding. Each week, I receive a summary of the prison population statistics – and each week, this shows that prisons are at 99 per cent capacity. Indeed, that underestimates the crisis, because the ‘capacity’ includes the chronic overcrowding in many prisons, which means many prisoners are effectively warehoused with little opportunity for education or rehabilitation programmes.
We know, however, that the crisis runs far deeper than prisons. The probation service is about one-third understaffed, with its workload increasing because of early prison releases. We have long complained about the lack of legal advisers and other court staff in courts, leading to inefficiencies and delays, with magistrates having sittings cancelled at the last minute. Backlogs of cases in the crown court mean that some victims, witnesses and defendants are waiting up to three years for their cases to be heard – and means that prisons are clogged up with thousands of people who either are awaiting trial or who have been found guilty but haven’t yet been sentenced. And each day, magistrates have to work in courtrooms and with technology that is not fit for purpose. In the family courts, the shortages of social workers result in long delays in receiving reports, meaning children’s futures are held in limbo. While politicians often promise more “bobbies on the beat”, little thought is given to the likelihood that this will lead to more arrests for a system that simply can’t cope.
For me, there are two further examples of the dysfunctionality of the justice system that have affected magistrates.
Firstly, magistrates have to subsidise the justice system from their own pocket. Our member survey showed that three-quarters of magistrates – who are, of course, volunteers, have to do this, subsidising the cost of travel, IT, childcare and loss of earnings. We’ve repeatedly raised this with officials and ministers, and while they make sympathetic noises, they tell us there is no money to put it right.
Secondly, magistrates’ powers to deal with slightly more serious cases (those that could attract a custodial sentence of up to 12 months rather than six) were extended a couple of years ago, so that they could take on some of the backlog from the crown court and free up capacity there. Magistrates undertook compulsory training amounting to tens of thousands of hours, and no doubt great expense. But within a few months, the policy was reversed because it was working at speeding up justice leading to greater pressure on prisons. What a waste of time and money.
I hope I haven’t depressed you too much with this summary of the state of the justice system. And certainly, our conference this November is intended to do the opposite. Entitled, Solutions not sticking plasters: fixing the long-term challenges in the justice system, our aim is to inspire by hearing from speakers with ideas for how the justice system can be repaired.
One way we can do that is by learning from abroad. We know that different approaches are being taken to courts and sentencing – in Australia, they’ve adopted a model of community courts, and in Norway, their approach to custodial sentences is very different. So, technology-permitting, we’ll be making the most of the conference being online by hearing from expert voices abroad.
Sometimes it can feel like the government is playing whack-a-mole with the justice system – it whacks one problem, only for that to cause another problem somewhere else in the system. One of our speakers will be introducing us to a ‘systems-thinking’ approach to justice: instead of just dealing with the latest crisis, how can the system as a whole be repaired?
Whenever there is a change in government after a long period – and it doesn’t matter from which party to which – there is a period of opportunity for changes in approach. We’re in that period now, and we’ll be joined at the conference by Lord Fred Ponsonby, the new Justice Minister in the House of Lords – and, significantly, (until he became a minister) a long-standing magistrate and former volunteer for the MA. He’ll be speaking at the conference, but it’ll also be an opportunity to influence him in his thinking in these early days of the new government.
I hope I’ve whetted your appetite enough for you to spend a Saturday morning in November to join us online for a no-holds-barred conversation. Our aim is for you to leave the event inspired that things can be different and that the justice system can heal.
Book your ticket
This year’s AGM and conference takes place online on 23 November. Register for your free place at https://www.magistrates-association.org.uk/events/magistrates-association-agm-conference-and-awards/
