Government plans to shake up the running of magistrates' courts that could see more defendants tried and sentenced in their absence have been labelled 'an act of spin' by a leading criminal lawyer.

The White Paper, Supporting magistrates' courts to provide justice, published by the Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA) this week proposed measures to ensure that defendants who failed without valid reason to attend court will have their trials conducted and sentences, including imprisonment, passed in their absence.


The DCA also proposed removing television licence and some motoring offences from the court system, with fines imposed by post.


Andrew Keogh, partner at national firm Tuckers and founder of on-line information service Crimeline, described the paper as a mixed bag that lacked detail. He said proposals to try defendants in their absence was 'an act of spin' that added nothing new as this can be, and is, done already.


However, he welcomed efforts to streamline the administration of road traffic cases providing there was no corresponding detriment to the quality of justice.


Rodney Warren, director of the Criminal Law Solicitors Association, said he supported any action to ensure delay is reduced.


But he added: 'The government must ensure that the consequences of any steps taken are not a greater evil. There are concerns that where justice is dispensed by post, people don't feel engaged with the court process and will lose confidence in the criminal justice system.'


Other proposals in the White Paper included making it easier for magistrates to take time off and removing the requirement for a clerk to sit with a district judge.