§ Mr. DrewTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what measures he is taking to deal with the problems caused by(a) ineffective and (b) cracked trials. [151777]
§ Mr. LeslieMy Department, in conjunction with other criminal justice agencies, is actively addressing the problems of ineffective and cracked trials. The CJS PSA2 seeks to bring 1.2 million offenders to justice by 2006 and to reduce the proportion of ineffective trials. My Department aims to cut the ineffective rate in the crown court from 24 per cent. to 17 per cent. and in the magistrates court from 31 per cent. to 23 per cent. To monitor progress, interim targets have been set for April 2004 of 20.4 per cent. in crown court and 26.5 per cent. in the magistrates court. Following changes to a more victim and witness focused listing system with greater emphasis on trials being effective, over-listing in the crown court has reduced and the ineffective rate has reduced to 19.7 per cent. over the last quarter. Progress in the magistrates court has been slower, which reflects the more diverse nature of the business, but is now achieving a rate of 28.8 per cent. New targets to lower the rate further in 2004–05 are currently being agreed.
My Department is working with the Home Office, the CPS and the judiciary to address the problems of cracked trials in a number of ways. The most important of these is the tri-lateral Effective Trial Management Programme, which will introduce a Criminal Case Management Framework, which clearly sets out the procedure to be 728W followed in each type of case. This framework will be supported by a new soon to be established Criminal Procedure Rule Committee.
There will also be provision for judges and magistrates to give an early indication of sentence. These measures, coupled with the CPS taking responsibility for charging and the work being done to support witnesses, will reduce the number of cracked trials and those where the prosecution ends the case or offers no evidence. My Department has an effective performance management system in place which will ensure that the proportion of cracked and ineffective trials will reduce and is currently appointing Case Progression Officers to each area to work closely with other agencies to ensure greater certainty that cases listed proceed as planned.