The criminal justice system will collapse if the government rejects the ‘broad thrust’ of the recommendations made in the Leveson review to cut the Crown court backlog, the review's author told MPs today.

Giving evidence to the House of Commons justice select committee today on part one of his review, Sir Brian Leveson said the timing of the government’s response is not in his hands. 

In his report, Sir Brian said his recommendations should not be approached as providing a ‘pick-n-mix’ series of options. Sir Brian told the committee today he meant the need for ‘wholesale systemic reform’ rather than the government slavishly follow everything he suggested. ‘Should the broad thrust of my recommendations not be accepted, I truly believe we risk the collapse of the system as we presently have it,' he warned.

On concerns raised by the Bar Council, Law Society and lawyers that would see fewer cases heard by a jury, the former head of criminal justice said everyone has a right to a fair trial but pointed out that most cases are tried by magistrates ‘without being considered unfair’.

Sir Brian Leveson

Leveson: More sitting days and cash not enough to save the criminal justice system from collapse

Source: Alamy

Sir Brian said: ‘I’m a barrister by training. I have spent 55 years as a criminal lawyer. I believe in the system, but the system cannot survive as it presently is. What I have said to the Bar Council and Law Society and others who say “more money and sitting days will solve this”, it will not. If you look at just increasing sitting days, which is what the bar suggested, there are far too many ineffective cases because there are no prosecutors or defence lawyers in court. So in increasing sitting days, you are going to increase the number of cases where there is no barrister or solicitor in court available to prosecute or defend the cases. Just increasing the number of sitting days does not get you over the line.’

Sir Brian recalled having two cases a day when he began his career at the bar in 1970. Now, he said, no case takes less than a day due to their complexity. 

To critics of his recommendations, he asked: ‘If not this, then what?’

Sir Brian said he had grown up with juries and he was not averse to them. 'If not this, then what?,’ he asked again. ‘No one really gives me an answer. They just say “more money and more days”.’