Responding to Operation Early Dawn, Tom Franklin, the Chief Executive of the Magistrates’ Association, said:
“We have seen the reports that the Lord Chancellor is implementing an emergency measure, Operation Early Dawn, to deal with prison overcrowding by delaying the cases in magistrates’ courts.”
“We are very concerned about these further delays being imposed on cases reaching magistrates’ courts. Every case that is delayed has real-life consequences for victims, witnesses and defendants – and leads to magistrates and court staff sitting around waiting, rather than administering justice. That is a waste of resources, at a time when there are already large backlogs.
“It demonstrates the parlous state of the criminal justice system and the need for an injection of more resources at every stage of the justice process.
“It is also alarming that the amount of information on this is scant. Neither the Magistrates’ Association nor magistrates have been informed about this.”
“We are urgently seeking further information from the Ministry of Justice and HM Courts and Tribunals Service, and will update our members in due course.”
