The Justice Select Committee’s report on court reform reflects many of our concerns about changes to criminal justice. As the report says, case backlogs will not be solved by shifting pressure between courts. Instead, it requires sustained investment, proper access to legal representation, greater use of out-of-court disposals, and evidence-based reform, grounded in the Leveson Review, that works for everyone. The Law Society submitted evidence to the Committee, and we support the report.
While discussions about courts often focus on case volumes, sitting days and backlogs, it is vital not to overlook the people affected behind these figures. Our courts are a vital public service, as essential to our society as schools, hospitals or transport networks. When that public service is weakened, the consequences are felt far beyond courtrooms. They affect families seeking security, businesses seeking certainty and communities seeking fairness.
We have consistently warned that the challenges facing the courts are rooted in years of underinvestment. Crown Court backlogs remain seriously high, whilst magistrates’ courts continue to face significant pressures. Delays leave victims waiting for closure, witnesses waiting to be heard and defendants waiting for their day in court. Justice delayed is not simply an administrative problem: it undermines confidence in a system that should provide fairness and certainty for all.
We welcome the Justice Committee’s recognition that shifting pressure from the Crown Court to the magistrates’ courts is not a sustainable solution to the challenges facing our criminal justice system.
The Committee is also right to draw attention to legal aid. If people facing serious charges cannot obtain representation, this undermines the fairness of proceedings and the effective functioning of our system. Fairness is the foundation on which public confidence rests. A justice system that works only for those who can afford it is not serving the common good. We also share the Committee’s view that the government should provide a full response to Sir Brian Leveson’s Independent Review of the Criminal Courts. This will help to ensure reforms are guided by evidence rather than short-term pressures. Lasting reforms require a strategic approach that considers the justice system as a whole. That necessitates investment: in court buildings, technology, judges, staff and legal services. It means ensuring legal aid is fit for purpose and recognising that efficiency and fairness must go hand in hand.
In its detailed scrutiny of the Bill, the Committee also raises significant concerns about proposed changes to appeals from magistrates’ courts, echoing points we have been making all along. Moving from a straightforward rehearing process to one requiring permission to appeal risks making it harder to correct wrongful decisions. Combined with the Bill’s substantial increase in magistrates’ sentencing powers, weakening this important safeguard to review summary decisions will heighten the risk that miscarriages of justice will be uncorrected.
In the context of intense debate in parliament, the Justice Committee’s report rightly recognises the important truth that there are no quick fixes to the pressures facing our courts. The real issue is capacity, buildings, staff and resources. Sustainable reform requires sustained investment. It requires government to maintain the level playing field on which justice depends and to uphold the rules that enable our society to function effectively and fairly.
If we are serious about restoring confidence in our justice system, the government must move beyond piecemeal, headline-grabbing solutions and urgently start implementing long-term, evidence-based reform. The prize is not simply a reduction in backlogs. It is a stronger public service, a fairer society and a timely justice system that works for all of us.
Mark Evans is president of the Law Society of England and Wales
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