Government set to ditch night courts because of expense

Criminal law solicitors this week welcomed the government decision to ditch its controversial night courts scheme after independent research concluded that the pilots were 'prohibitively expensive'.

However, early morning courts remain a possibility.

Courts minister Yvonne Cooper published good practice guidance after an evaluation by researchers PA Consulting showed that although it had plus points - such as clearing the way for cases listed the following day - the costs outweighed the benefits.

The final cost of the pilots was slightly more than 2 million.

The project was originally priced at 5.4 million, but was cut short when just 386 defendants appeared early morning at the London's Bow Street magistrates' court - at a cost of 3,257 each - and 622 appeared in Manchester magistrates' court both at night and early morning, with each costing between 589 and 1,322.

The report suggested that the biggest benefits came from early morning sittings and specialist courts sitting in the late afternoon; Ms Cooper suggested that these might be rolled out following consideration by magistrates' courts committees.

But Rodney Warren, director of the Criminal Law Solicitors Association, said the pilots were 'a misconceived initiative' based on the different US system - where bail is dealt with at night - and said the money could have been put towards increasing duty solicitor rates.

Meanwhile, a report by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) Inspectorate has advised the CPS to take a stronger stance when it comes to inappropriate charging by the police.

The report said the CPS was only responsible for a 'modest proportion' of cases that result in a termination or charge reduction.

However, it added: 'In some CPS areas we found that some lawyers were failing to take a robust and proactive approach throughout the case, with the effect that inappropriate charging was not being addressed at the earliest stage.'

It recommended that the CPS and other agencies involved look at ways of implementing more effective joint performance management, initial review and case management.

Paula Rohan