"Justice
for All"
White Paper is published
The long awaited Government
White Paper on the future shape of the Criminal Justice System
in England and Wales was presented to the House of Commons today
(17th July 2002) by Home Secretary, David Blunkett.
The
White Paper represents, among other things, the Government's
response to recent reports by Sir Robin Auld and John Halliday.
The
White Paper can be downloaded CLICK
HERE. The Document is a substantial one at over 950kB
and will take some time to download (variable depending on the
speed of your connection to the internet.
The
main points of the proposals (as summarised by the BBC) are:
Trials
-
Reveal
defendants' previous convictions "where relevant"
-
Scrap
double jeopardy so that "in grave cases where
compelling new evidence has come to light, an acquitted
defendant can be tried for a second time for the same
offence"
-
Bring
crown courts and magistrates' courts together under a
unified administration
-
Increase
magistrates sentencing powers from six to 12 months
-
Introduce
trial without jury in serious fraud cases where there is a
risk of jury intimidation
-
Strengthen
youth courts to deal with young offenders accused of serious
crimes
-
Provide
more incentives for early guilty pleas to save court time
-
Make
"hearsay" evidence admissible
Victims
-
A
national strategy for victims and witnesses to be published
later this year
-
A
new Independent Commissioner for Victims and Witnesses
supported by a National Victims Advisory Panel
-
More
measures for vulnerable and intimidated witnesses including
pre-recorded video evidence and screens around the witness
box
-
Volunteers
to accompany victims when giving statements
-
Extend
support to victims of road traffic incidents and their
families
-
Measures
to improve preparation of cases against defendants,
including closer working between the police and CPS
-
Force
defence lawyers to reveal their case in advance, as the
prosecution is already required to do
Sentencing
-
A
new graded framework to tailor sentences to the offender and
the offence
-
Creating
"intermittent" jail terms where offenders are only
locked up overnight or at weekends, allowing the offender to
continue working and maintain family ties
-
Developing
"custody plus" schemes where offenders serve a
short prison sentence - between 14 days and three months -
followed by a community work of at least six months
-
The
power to lock up dangerous, sexual or violent offenders
indefinitely, even if they do not have a life sentence
-
Releasing
young offenders locked up for serious offences at halfway
point of the sentence and supervised until the end of
sentence
Punishment
and rehabillitation
-
Greater
flexibility to probation officers to drug test offenders on
release from custody
-
Pilot
the "Going Straight" contract, a new
rehabilitation programme for 18-20 year olds including
reparation to victims and incentives to participate
-
Review
reception and release procedures for all prisoners to ensure
departing prisoners have the appropriate help to resettle
-
Modernise
prisons to increase capacity, build new
"multi-functional community prisons", close unfit
prisons
-
Shut
down or contract out prisons which do not meet tough new
standards
Public
Involvement
-
Improve
communication between criminal justice agencies and the
public
-
Continue
to implement the findings of the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry in
order to reduce racism in the system
-
Clampdown
on middle-class professionals who try to avoid jury service
for work reasons
-
Make
sure juries reflect all sections of society and are better
supported
-
Raise
the profile of magistrates and encourage more people to
apply from as wide a cross-section of the community as
possible
-
Increase
restorative justice schemes, where criminals are made to
face their victims
Fighting
and reducing crime
-
Extend
the range of restraining orders
-
Provide
anonymity for victims of domestic violence
-
Improve
liaison between the civil and criminal courts and the family
and criminal courts
-
More
help for drug-addicted offenders
-
Extend
drug testing provisions to the under 18s
Other
changes
-
£600m
investment in information technology
-
Set
up 42 local Criminal Justice Boards reporting to a new
national Criminal Justice Board
-
Streamline
court service management into one body
-
Establish
a new independent courts inspectorate with jurisdiction over
the administration of crown courts