Auld told to end committal and mode of trial hearings

Committal and mode of trial hearings before magistrates could be scrapped if Lord Justice Auld heeds forceful representations made to him during a conference organised by civil liberties group Liberty last weekend.Lord Auld, who will submit his report on criminal justice to ministers this autumn, told the conference the structure of the courts was central to his considerations.

He said his options, broadly, were to advocate unifying the criminal justice system - bringing judges and lay magistrates into the same system, housed in the same buildings - or retaining the status quo but streamlining the administration of the magistrates and crown courts.

Leading legal academic Lee Bridges advocated scrapping committal proceedings in magistrates' courts.

Liberty, meanwhile, recommended that all cases where an individual is accused of a crime should be heard before a jury.

Jeremy Fleming