Letting prison vans use the bus lanes? Yes. More AI in court? Hopefully. Legal aid fee review? Maybe. As the Courts and Tribunals Bill returns to parliament today, the government revealed its final decision on all 180 recommendations put forward by retired judge Sir Brian Leveson's criminal courts review to slash the Crown court backlog.
Some of the government’s response will come as no surprise. Justice secretary Alex Norris announced last week that he was abandoning plans for a Crown Court Bench Division but still intended to increase magistrates’ sentencing powers, remove defendants' right to elect a jury trial and have judge-only trials for fraud cases.
However, the government’s response also reveals that Norris is open to the idea of legal aid fee reviews and funding law firm training contracts. Funding training contracts is 'subject to further evidence gathering and decisions at the next Spending Review'.
Leveson recommended an annual review of legal aid fees. The government thinks there is ‘merit in the idea of reviewing fees on a more regular basis’. However, it says, ‘the development of any review mechanism should take place after court reforms have bedded in, and after current funding discussions, including an uplift of £34m on the AGFS [Crown court fees for litigators], have concluded’.
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On Leveson's recommendation to increase the lower and upper income threshold limits for criminal legal aid in the magistrates' court, the government says: 'Once court reforms have been fully implemented, we will be better placed to take final decisions on income threshold levels, subject to future funding decisions and operational considerations.'
The government appears keener to move more quickly on AI, with work ‘underway’ on exploring the possibility of AI transcriptions of court proceedings and a potential pilot on how AI can assist HMCTS contact centre staff.
Recommendations fully accepted include letting prisoner transport vans use bus lanes. The government says it has written ‘high priority’ local authority areas and is currently working with the Transport for London.
The response also reveals that the government is developing a new 'single digital justice ID' to monitor cases and outcomes consistently, from arrest, through the courts, into custody, and back into the community.
The Courts and Tribunals Bill will go through the report stage and have its third reading in the Commons today.
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