§ Miss WiddecombeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what estimate he has made of the average(a) cost of, (b) length of and (c) waiting time for a hearing of an appeal to the Crown Court from the decision of magistrates on mode of trial, under the provisions of the Criminal Justice (Mode of Trial) Bill; [107034]
(2) what estimate he has made of the number of defendants in each of the last three years who would have exercised the right of appeal to the Crown Court on mode of trial, under the provisions to be introduced by the Criminal Justice (Mode of Trial) Bill; [107029]
(3) what estimate he has made of the average (a) cost of, (b) length of and (c) waiting time for a trial in the magistrates court following the dismissal of an appeal to the Crown Court from the decision of magistrates on mode of trial, under the provisions of the Criminal Justice (Mode of Trial) Bill. [107033]
§ Mr. StrawThe new appeal procedure would be fast and efficient with determination within forty-eight hours in most cases. Our estimate is that even if as many as a quarter of defendants who had been refused Crown Court trial were to appeal, the cost of the resulting hearings would be less than £500,000. No additional delay would be caused by these appeals, since they would run concurrently with the progress of the case in the magistrates court.