David Lammy will today announce a new body to promote English law internationally to reinforce the country's global lead in legal services in his first speech as justice secretary at the Labour party conference.
As well as an ‘English Law Panel’, the deputy prime minister will also announce plans to expand problem-solving courts in the criminal justice system as part of efforts to reduce reoffending, starting with a new women’s intensive supervision court in Liverpool, which is hosting this year's conference.
According to the Law Society, the UK is the world's second largest legal services provider, with legal services contributing £57.8bn annually to the economy and employing around 526,000 people - 1.6% of the UK workforce.
Lammy is also expected to highlight in today's speech the state of the justice system inherited from the Conservative administration 14 months ago, such as the prison population crisis and Crown court backlog.
Figures published by the Ministry of Justice last week showed that the number of outstanding cases climbed to a record 78,329 between April and June this year. The Criminal Bar Association revealed that a London Crown court had offered a robbery case a trial date of October 2029.
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Justice minister Sarah Sackman KC MP told a fringe event organised by the Society of Labour Lawyers yesterday that cutting the Crown court backlog was a ‘litmus’ test for her department.
Sackman said the debate about the backlog had become a little arid: ‘The numbers are slightly difficult to fathom as we look at a caseload heading north of 80,000 cases. But it comes down to this - a resident in my constituency becomes a victim of crime. They report that crime. They have confidence in the police and CPS… But if their day in court is listed in 2029 or 2030, that old adage “justice delayed is justice denied” is all too real. Justice that is not timely is not fair.’
Sackman said the government ‘will do what it takes’ and is ‘carefully considering’ recommendations put forward by Sir Brian Leveson that could see more cases heard by a judge instead of a jury.
‘My commitment and the commitment of the Ministry of Justice and this government is that by the end of this parliament, we will have successfully managed to bear down on that backlog,' Sackman added.
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