On Thursday 01 August, and Sunday 04 August, during addresses to the nation, the Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced he was establishing a ‘National Capability’ force to deal with those involved in the violent protests engulfing England and Northern Ireland. This would include extra police officers, courts running 24 hours a day, and prison spaces made available for these protesters
In response to this announcement by the Prime Minister, Criminal defence solicitors have told the Ministry of Justice that they simply do not have the resources or capacity to support 24-hour courts and that the PM is making promises that are not workable. In an open letter from the chair of the Criminal Law Solicitors Association to the Ministry of Justice, considerable disappointed was expressed as to why no one from the Government has bothered to engage criminal defence practitioners as to the workability of the Prime Ministers announcement
Specific areas of the open letter focused on the workability of the Courts during previous civil unrest back in 2011, compared to today in 2024
“This is not 2011. Since 2011 more than a third of criminal legal aid solicitors have left the profession and a third of firms have closed. Legal aid rates have fallen by more than 30% in real terms at a time when the cost of living, and the costs of running a business have ballooned. Firms have neither the capacity nor the resources to help staff 24-hour court sessions, even in the short term. They cannot afford to operate in shift patterns which means solicitors to work 24 hours, on top of their 24-hour police station duty which, in the case of employees, would cause contract and employment law issues as well as seriously impacting on family life and their mental health wellbeing. Our members are an ageing profession, many already working every hour under the sun. We cannot take any more. Our members are not willing or able to prop up a failing system. We will be making it clear to our members that they should think carefully before putting themselves and their firms at further risk by stepping into the breach once more. But we would point out that if law and order, the justice system, and those working in it are as essential as must now be plainly obvious to all, then it is time it is treated with the respect that it deserves and not as some poor relative of the other public services. There is no capacity in the system because of the neglect going back decades”
Indeed, it is not just the Criminal Law Solicitors Association, The Criminal Bar Association has also opposed 24-hour courts. In a statement from the CBA, its chair has said “The working day does not begin and end with the court hearing. Reading, researching, preparing written work all takes place outside court, much of it unremunerated. Time is needed to resolve admissibility issues and reduce large amounts of material to summaries and schedules in order to reduce court sitting time and cost.
The criminal justice system is on the brink of collapse due to cut after cut to funding. Asking it to now work 24 hours per day is just another unworkable announcement from successive governments who do not grasp the dire state of legal aid funded criminal defence lawyers
