§ Mr. Cyril Smithasked the Attorney-General if, when Crown courts cannot hear cases due to certain consequences of cuts in prison expenditure, attempts are made otherwise to employ the judges and staff of the courts.
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§ The Attorney-GeneralYes. On the days when prisoners are not escorted to and from prison, every effort is made to list civil cases before High Court judges, and circuit judges and recorders deal with those criminal cases in which the defendants are on bail and in which it is thought improbable that custodial sentences will be passed. Appeals from magistrates' courts can also be heard if the appellants are not in custody.