Unions lash out at budget cuts as more trials hit by hold-ups

The number of barristers and solicitors working for the Crown Prosecution Service has also dropped by more than a fifth in the same period, according to freedom of information requests carried out by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (BIJ).

And the total number of trials completed in crown courts in England and Wales also fell by 10 per cent, from 153,898 in 2010 to 138,808 in 2012, a decline partly attributed to a fall in crime rates.

There were 1,210 cases labelled ineffective because of court administration problems last year, the BIJ said, up from a figure of 912 in 2009.

Unions blamed the figures on budget cuts to HM Courts and Tribunals Service, which manages courts, and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), which is responsible for bringing prosecutions to court. The claims were rejected by the CPS and the Ministry of Justice (MoJ).

The Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union organised a strike earlier this year protesting against cuts to budgets in the legal system.

Union spokesman Kevin Greenway told the BIJ: “The system is creaking and risks falling apart. It is true that justice delayed is justice denied and these cuts could have dangerous and unforeseen consequences.

“Court staff face massive problems every minute of every day alongside colleagues in the Crown Prosecution Service, the National Offender Management Service, and Probation.

“Despite the cuts, staff at all levels battle to get the job done alongside a judiciary which is also deeply concerned for the public interest.”

HMCTS has lost 4,333 people, or 19 per cent of its workforce since 2011, figures showed.

The number of barristers retained by the CPS in England and Wales fell by 202 (23 per cent), and the number of in-house solicitors by 518 (22 per cent) in the past three years.

The CPS said it did not accept there was a link between its 
staff levels and delays to court cases.

A spokesman said: “We have had to make savings of 27 per cent to our budget and naturally staff numbers have reduced, but we are protecting frontline teams and improving performance.

“Overall conviction rates have remained consistent at 85 per cent or above for the past eight years and we have clearly demonstrated that we are able to successfully prosecute the most serious and complex offences; the conviction rate for violence against women and girls, including rape, hit a record high in 2012/13.”

He added: “We prosecute in almost 200,000 trials a year and we are ready to proceed in 99.6 per cent of trials in the Crown Court and 98.7 per cent of trials in the magistrates’ court.

“The most common reasons for delays of trials are out of the hands of the Crown Prosecution Service.”

An MoJ spokesman said: “The Government is committed to ensuring that we continue to provide court and tribunal users with effective access to justice while seeking ways to do so at a lower cost and alongside our efforts to improve the efficiency of the justice system as a whole.

“The Criminal Justice System Strategy and Action Plan, published last month, set out plans to increase the effectiveness and transparency of the courts.

“These include digitising the criminal justice system, transforming it from a fragmented paper-based system to a digital service which meets the standards the public rightly expect from a modern public service.”

Labour’s shadow justice secretary Sadiq Khan said: “Because of the Government’s policies, guilty criminals could be getting away scot free.

“It’s outrageous that our rule of law is being put at risk because prosecutors don’t have the resources to pursue cases and our courts are so badly stretched. Ministers must act now before public confidence in our justice system is further eroded.”