The new chairman of the Bar Council, Sam Townend, KC, has said a big fall in the number of defendants pleading guilty at an early stage was putting “unbearable pressure” on the criminal justice system.
The Bar Council is a professional body representing barristers in England and Wales. In his inauguration speech as its new chairman at the Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn in central London on Tuesday night, Mr. Townend highlighted what he said was the parlous state of the criminal justice system and said neither of the two main political parties was addressing the issue.
Mr. Townend said guilty pleas were down from 85 percent on the first day of a trial ten years ago to 36 percent today.
‘Witnessing a Breakdown in the Compact’
“If these trends continue, what we are witnessing is a breakdown in the compact essential to any effective criminal justice system governed by the rule of law, that perpetrators plead guilty early for a discounted sentence and start the process of rehabilitation,” Mr. Townend said.“If the compact is broken, it will put the criminal courts system, already running at close to boiling point, under unbearable pressure, accelerating the rate of increase in the backlog and pushing out further the time within which cases are dealt with,” he added.
Mr. Townend said the crown court backlog was “the largest it has ever been” with 66,500 outstanding cases at the end of Sept. 2023.
In his speech, Mr. Townend said defendants appeared to be relying on the delays and hoping alleged victims and witnesses would withdraw their co-operation with prosecutors, leading to cases collapsing.
The time between someone being charged and their trial has lengthened in England and Wales since the pandemic, which massively affected the ability of courts to hold trials.
Defendants are now waiting up to two or even three years for trials.
Last month, Aklakar Rahman, 37, who is accused of five counts of attempted murder relating to incidents in two English prisons, was told his trial would be held in Jan. 2025.
Meanwhile, three men accused by the Serious Fraud Office in connection with the collapse of a company called Ethical Forestry Limited have been told they will not go on trial until Feb. 2026.
Government Accused of Not Investing in Courts
Mr. Townend said there had been a lack of “government investment” in the criminal justice system and he added, “the present financial settlement for the criminal justice system is like being asked to make two loaves of bread but having the ingredients for less than one.”“I put it bluntly: The criminal and family justice systems are at the point of structural failure. The need for significant investment is great and it is urgent,” he added.
“From front to end of the criminal justice system, the picture is bleak. The court estate is dilapidated, and prisons are full,” said Mr. Townend.
He also referred to the Post Office Horizon scandal, which he referred to as a “truly appalling” miscarriage of justice.
Mr. Townend said: “For our part, we think there is a case for Parliament to review wholesale the role of corporates in bringing private prosecutions.”
“So far as the immediate circumstances of the victims are concerned, it is important that any proposals are consistent with due process and the separation of powers, in particular, to give them the proper exoneration to which they are surely entitled,” he added.
The Labour Party leader, Sir Keir Starmer, has called for the Post Office and other companies to be prevented from bringing private prosecutions.
Post Office Limited is a company wholly owned by the government.
