§ Mr. Berminghamasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he hopes to introduce time trials to determine the length of statutory limit for remands; and if he will make a statement about the nature of those trials.
§ Mr. MellorWe hope after consultation to begin the field trials later this year. We are considering their precise form and the areas where they should be held. The trials will be designed to test the feasibility and effectiveness of particular time limits, both generally and in relation to variations in the courts' work load between different areas; their implications for all concerned in the operation of the criminal justice process; and the procedures required to ensure and check compliance with such limits. My right hon. and learned Friend will ask prosecutors and the courts in the areas selected to arrange for cases to be brought to committal or trial as if the time limits which he will specify for the purpose of the trials were operative. Although under the field trials no legal consequences will follow396W from failure to comply with a time limit, arrangements will be made to identify those cases and to asses whether under the statutory scheme there would have been grounds for extending the limit.