A survey of all 774 judges sitting in English and Welsh courts found that 67 per cent went to public school and 60 per cent attended Oxford or Cambridge universities. Only 8 per cent are women, while fewer than 1 per cent are from an ethnic minority group.
Source: Labour Research, December 2002, Labour Research Department (020 7928 3649)
Links: Press release
Date: 2002-Dec
In September 2002 the average time interval between offence and completion was 143 days for defendants in all criminal cases in magistrates' courts (an increase from 137 days in September 2001), due to an increase in the time from offence to charge or laying of information.
Source: Jacqueline O Brien, Time Intervals in the Magistrates' Courts: September 2002, Lord Chancellor s Department (020 7210 8500)
Links: Report (pdf) | Independent article
Date: 2002-Dec
The final evaluation was published of the extended court sitting hours pilots held in London and Manchester between May and September 2002. Overall the pilot schemes were found to be significantly more expensive than normal court business, and did not represent value for money. It was recommended that the pilot schemes should not be rolled out nationally. The government said that it would consider further some positive elements of the pilots, in particular the use of early morning sittings and specialist courts in the late afternoon.
Source: PA Consulting Group, Extended Court Sitting Hours Pilot: Final Evaluation Report, Lord Chancellor s Department (020 7210 8500) | Press release 27.1.03, Lord Chancellor s Department (020 7210 8500)
Links: Report (pdf) | Appendices (pdf) | LCD press release | Guardian report | Hansard
Date: 2002-Dec
The retiring head of the Legal Services Commission reportedly warned that solicitors, particularly in affluent areas of the south east, are increasingly abandoning legal aid work in favour of private client work.
Source: The Guardian, 30.12.02
Links: Guardian report
Date: 2002-Dec
Research reportedly found that black people are six times more likely than to be sent to prison than whites.
Source: Research by Jeremy Coid (Royal London School of Medicine), reported in The Observer, 29.12.02
Links: Observer report
Date: 2002-Dec
The Director of Public Prosecutions published his report into the handling of the case against those accused of murdering Damilola Taylor (a Nigerian boy aged 10) in south east London in 2000. He concluded that the initial decision to charge the accused was correct; and also that to continue the case as new factors emerged between charge and trial was, based on the evidence available, 'the right thing to do'. But the report of a panel headed by the Bishop of Birmingham (John Sentamu) said that Damilola was failed by a criminal justice system that is unfairly balanced in favour of defendants, and by flaws in the police inquiry that meant the case could not be properly prepared before trial.
Source: Press release 9.12.02, Crown Prosecution Service (020 7796 8000) | The Damilola Taylor Murder Investigation Review: Report of the Oversight Panel ('Sentamu report'), Metropolitan Police (020 7230 1212)
Links: CPS press release | Sentamu report (pdf) | Guardian analysis
See also: Journal of Social Policy Volume 31/1, Digest 121, paragraph 4.6
Date: 2002-Dec
The Bar Council called for the system of appointing senior barristers to be reformed, to make it fairer to women and ethnic minorities.
Source: Response to the LCD Consultation Paper 'In the Public Interest?', Bar Council (020 7242 0082)
Links: Response (Word file) | Press release
Date: 2002-Nov
A committee of MPs found that less than two-thirds of court fines in England and Wales are collected.
Source: Collection of Fines and other Financial Penalties in the Criminal Justice System, Sixty-eighth Report (Session 2002-03), HC 999, House of Commons Public Accounts Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report
Date: 2002-Nov
A study found that minority ethnic people are more likely than others to have bad experiences of the criminal justice system, and that they are over-represented in all stages of the criminal justice system and under-represented as employees of criminal justice services and agencies. The Home Office responded by announcing the creation of a new unit, charged with devising a programme of action to meet its statutory responsibilities on race discrimination; and proposed a new code governing stop-and-search procedures.
Source: Race and the Criminal Justice System, Home Office (020 7273 2084) | Draft Police and Criminal Evidence Act Code A: Code of practice for the exercise by police officers of statutory powers of stop and search, Home Office
Links: Report (pdf) | Tables (Excel file) | HO press release | CRE press release
Date: 2002-Nov
The Courts Bill was published, aimed at modernising the courts system and unifying its administration. Courts would be given information about an offender's income and expenditure so that a fine could be set at a realistic level or an alternative community penalty given if more appropriate.
Source: Courts Bill 2002 [HL], Lord Chancellor's Department, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Text of Bill | Press release
Date: 2002-Nov
Appointments of women judges in 2001-02 rose to 34.4 per cent of the total, from 28.4 per cent the year before; and appointments of minority ethnic judges rose to 7.8 per cent from 6.9 per cent. But an independent commission said the appointments system lacks transparency and may perpetuate a white male judiciary drawn from a narrow social group.
Source: Judicial Appointments: Annual Report 2001-02, Lord Chancellor s Department (020 7210 8500) | Annual Report 2002, Commission for Judicial Appointments (020 7217 4470)
Links: LCD Report | LCD press release 30.10.02 | CJA report (pdf) | LCD press release 7.10.02
Date: 2002-Oct
The Commission for Racial Equality reportedly ended its inquiry into institutional racism at the Crown Prosecution Service, saying it was satisfied with the progress being made by the CPS in addressing the problem.
Source: The Independent, 17.9.02
Links: Article
See also: Journal of Social Policy Volume 31/1, Digest 121, paragraph 8.4
Date: 2002-Sep
A study found that public attitudes to the criminal justice system can be improved through greater provision of information.
Source: Becca Chapman, Catriona Mirrlees-Black and Claire Brawn, Improving Public Attitudes to the Criminal Justice System: The Impact of Information, Research Study 245, Home Office (020 7273 2084)
Links: Study (pdf) | Home Office press release
See also: Journal of Social Policy Volume 31/2, Digest 122, paragraph 6.2
Date: 2002-Jul
A Bill to implement the recommendations of the Criminal Justice Review Group Report (published in 2000) received Royal Assent.
Source: Justice (Northern Ireland) Act 2002, Northern Ireland Office, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Act
See also: Journal of Social Policy Volume 31/3, Digest 123, paragraph 6.4
Date: 2002-Jul
Research reportedly found that women continue to be under-represented among the judiciary, with only six women among 100 High Court judges.
Source: Research by Kate Malleson of the London School of Economics, reported in The Independent, 25.6.02
Links: Independent article
Date: 2002-Jun
An independent commission was established to examine how women are being failed by the criminal justice system. The commission is backed by the Fawcett Society, the Society of Labour Lawyers, and the Association of Women Barristers.
Source: The Independent, 20.6.02
Links: Independent article
Date: 2002-Jun
An audit report said radical change is needed to combat inefficiencies in the criminal justice system.
Source: Route to Justice: Improving the Pathway of Offenders through the Criminal Justice System, Audit Commission (0800 502030)
Links: Report (pdf) | Summary (pdf)
Date: 2002-Jun