Ministers to give magistrates more sentencing powers

Ministers are giving magistrates new sentencing powers in an effort to ease record delays to criminal trials, despite the fact that they are likely to temporarily push the prison population back up.

Magistrates in England and Wales will be able to jail offenders for up to 12 months from November to stop cases clogging up crown courts.

The plan was first tried by the former Conservative government before being scrapped as jails filled, but Labour says its version will work long-term.

Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood told MPs that it will ultimately help slash the record number of suspects being held waiting a trial.

The move is already facing a backlash from criminal lawyers who view it as a sticking plaster for a chronic lack of cash in a crisis-ridden system.

Magistrates in England and Wales have historically been limited to sentencing offenders to a maximum of six months for a single offence. More serious cases were left for judges in crown courts.

But there is a backlog of around 68,000 cases in those higher courts and a record 17,000 suspects on remand waiting for a trial.

That backlog was primarily caused by cuts before the pandemic, but exacerbated by the 2020 national shutdown and a later strike by barristers.

Last month, as the prisons reached capacity, the government began an emergency plan to let some offenders leave jail on a monitored licence after serving 40% of their term behind bars.

The scheme aims to buy the system breathing space as the new government looks at major reforms to how sentencing should work.

Ms Mahmood told MPs that while the early release scheme was now working as planned, there was still an acute problem in jails holding too many remand prisoners.

She said that by giving magistrates the power to decide cases that would lead to jail sentences of up to 12 months, the record remand population would begin to fall.

In turn, with fewer suspects having to go to crown courts, judges would gain an extra 2,000 days a year to deal with the most serious cases and start to reduce the unprecedented delays.

Critics say that the Conservatives' earlier attempt at this plan, between 2022 and 2023, failed because it led to more people in jail with very little change in the backlogs.

The modelling for the new government's projections will be published when the new rules are formally presented to MPs.

The BBC understands that official projections suggest the short-term population rise could turn out to be as little as 100, if the plan succeeds in getting more remand cases through the courts.

Outlining the plan to the Commons, Ms Mahmood said ministers had had to make tough decisions that were ducked by their predecessors.

“This Government inherited a criminal justice system in crisis, with dangerously overcrowded prisons and victims waiting far too long to see justice,” she said.

“This marks a further step towards addressing the deep challenges in our criminal justice system, both reducing the record remand population in our jails and delivering swifter justice for victims.”

But the plan has already been met with dismay by criminal barristers.

Mary Prior KC, chair of the Criminal Bar Association, said: “This will simply make things worse. This is a knee-jerk reaction, done without consulting, once again, the criminal barristers or solicitors who deal every day with these cases.

“This suggestion has been tried before but removed very quickly.

“Doubling magistrates’ maximum sentencing powers will only increase pressure on reduced prison space, by speedily raising the much bigger sentenced prisoner population.”

Mark Beattie, chair of the Magistrates’ Association, said that its members welcomed the new power to help deliver swifter justice.

“I know our members and colleagues will take up this increased responsibility with professionalism and integrity and will - as always - strive to deliver the highest quality of justice in their courts,” he said.