A committee of MPs gave a broad welcome to the Criminal Justice Bill, but said that the proposal to allow a defendant's similar previous convictions to be automatically admitted at trial could lead to miscarriages of justice in some cases.
Source: Criminal Justice Bill, Second Report (Session 2002-03), HC 83, House of Commons Home Affairs Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report
Date: 2002-Dec
The Criminal Justice Bill had its second reading in the House of Commons. The Home Secretary said that: 'Our starting point must be how to bring more cases to court successfully and ensure the conviction of the guilty, not simply defending an institutional status quo on the grounds that any changes could make things worse'.
Source: Criminal Justice Bill, Home Office, TSO (0870 600 5522) | House of Commons Hansard, Debate 4.12.02, columns 912-1014, TSO
Links: Text of Bill | Hansard | Press release
Date: 2002-Dec
The government published a Criminal Justice Bill, saying it would 'rebalance the criminal justice system in favour of victims, witnesses and communities'. The Prime Minister said: 'The truth is people don't feel more secure. They know the system is not working as it should.' But in a joint statement, legal groups and campaigners said that 'the idea that reducing the rights of defendants benefits the victims of crime is fundamentally flawed'.
Source: Criminal Justice Bill 2002, Home Office, TSO (0870 600 5522) | The Observer, 10.11.02 | Balancing Criminal Justice?, Liberty (020 7403 3888), Legal Action Group, Criminal Bar Association and Bar Council
Links: Text of Bill | HO press release | White Paper (pdf) | Observer article (Blair) | Joint statement
Date: 2002-Nov
The Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales said that the existing criminal justice system has failed to provide a solution to the problem of dealing with offenders, and called for new approaches (such as restorative justice) to be tried.
Source: Lord Woolf, Achieving Criminal Justice, 2002 Rose Lecture, Lord Chancellor s Department (020 7210 8500)
Links: Text of lecture | Press release
Date: 2002-Oct
A report said the government should establish a human rights framework for criminal justice policy, and that it is wrong to equate this with being soft on crime . It said that victims and witnesses need more attention from the system, but that the presumption of innocence on the part of the accused should not be eroded.
Source: Justice for All: JUSTICE response to the White Paper, JUSTICE (020 7329 5100)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2002-Oct
An official report explained the importance of the 'justice gap' (the difference between the number of crimes recorded and the number which result in their perpetrator being brought to justice), and described what steps criminal justice practitioners should take to narrow it. The government simultaneously announced a new scheme targeted at repeat offenders.
Source: Justice Gap Task Force, Narrowing the Justice Gap: Framework, Home Office (0870 000 1585) | Press release 17.10.02, Home Office (0870 000 1585)
Links: Report (pdf) | Press release
Date: 2002-Oct
The Conservative Party accused the government of abandoning or watering down a number of targets intended to show how well it is performing on crime reduction, asylum and drug abuse.
Source: The Daily Telegraph, 1.8.02
Date: 2002-Jul
The 2002 Spending Review provided for an increase in Home Office spending of 2.7 billion between 2001-02 and 2005-06.
Source: Opportunity and Security for All: Investing in an Enterprising, Fairer Britain: New Public Spending Plans 2003-2006, White Paper Cm 5570, HM Treasury, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: White Paper | Treasury press release | Hansard | Home Office press release
Date: 2002-Jul
Campaigners criticised proposals in the criminal justice White Paper to limit jury trials, remove the double jeopardy rule, and allow evidence on previous convictions.
Source: Press release 17.7.02, Liberty (020 7403 3888)
Links: Press release
Date: 2002-Jul
The criminal law needs to be scaled back to make the criminal justice system more effective, argued a think-tank report: fewer new criminal offences should be created, and existing ones should be reviewed.
Source: Clare Sparks and Sarah Spencer, Them and Us: The Public, Offenders and the Criminal Justice System, Institute for Public Policy Research, available from Central Books (0845 458 9911)
Links: Summary
See also: Journal of Social Policy Volume 31/1, Digest 121, paragraph 6.5
Date: 2002-Jul
The government published a White Paper on criminal justice reform, proposing a wide range of measures to improve crime detection, speed up prosecutions, and increase conviction rates.
Source: Justice for All, White Paper Cm 5563, Home Office, Lord Chancellor's Department and Attorney General, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: White Paper (pdf) | Summary | Hansard
See also: Journal of Social Policy Volume 31/1, Digest 121, paragraph 6.5
Date: 2002-Jul