CJSSS
Criminal Justice: Simple, Speedy, Summary
CJSSS, a project which aims to speed up how offences are dealt with in magistrates’ courts, has started. According to Nottinghamshire Criminal Justice Board, Simple, Speedy, Summary Justice (CJSSS) will strive to reduce the number of hearings it takes to complete cases.
The project aims to make court processes simpler and encourages greater inter-agency working. This includes strengthened links between criminal justice agencies and defence practitioners.
Mark Swales, Criminal Justice Board member responsible for CJSSS, says: “The aim is for criminal justice agencies to work together to provide a better service, which is focused on reducing crime and increasing confidence in the criminal justice system.”
In 2006 the Government published Delivery Simple Speedy Summary Justice, which set out plans to improve the speed and effectiveness of the magistrates’ courts system. This followed cross-agency reviews of Crown and magistrates’ courts, which found that criminal cases were taking too long, and there were too many hearings before a case reached a conclusion.
CJSSS aims to:
- Reduce the number of hearings in most cases, from the current average of five to an expectation of one (for guilty plea cases) and two (for contested) cases; and
- Reduce the time from charge to disposal for simple cases – to between one day to six weeks.
This will be done by ensuring:
- Improved preparation from arrest to first hearing (whilst crucially ensuring that pre-court preparation is proportionate to the matter at issue);
- Prosecution and defence are prepared and ready for the first hearing;
- A plea is entered at first hearing, with a defendant who pleads guilty being sentenced at that hearing wherever possible, or in the event of a not guilty plea, trials being set within six to ten weeks; and
- A commitment to ensure that cases are progressed out of court between first hearing and trial – to ensure that trials are ready to go ahead on time.