The Ministry of Justice has today announced plans to allow Magistrates to result their own Single Justice Procedure cases using Common Platform.
The changes follow a successful trial of the new arrangements in London and the Midlands.
I have previously written an article all about the Single Justice Procedure (SJP). Briefly, for the benefit of anyone who is unfamiliar, the SJP is a no frills, cheap and speedy way of the court dealing with certain non-contested (e.g. where a guilty plea or no response is submitted in relation to the charge), non-imprisonable summary offences. It would appear that these changes are designed to make the SJP experience even cheaper and less frilly.
The SJP is generally used for offences like speeding, TV licence evasion, rail fare evasion, vehicle excise duty evasion and, more recently, breaches of coronavirus legislation.
Just as the name suggests, these cases are dealt with by a single Magistrate who imposes a sentence based on the documentary evidence before them. A Legal Advisor sits alongside the Magistrate to clarify any points of law and result the cases on Common Platform.
As I have previously mentioned, I am in the fortunate position that I do not, as a matter of routine, undertake SJP work. The only time I would do any is if there was time to fill during a lull in business during a normal court sitting.
During the trial a single Legal Advisor could oversee the work of up to three Magistrates working on SJP cases. It would appear that this 3:1 model is also being adopted across England and Wales.
In my area it is currently the Legal Advisor's job to result the sentencing decisions of the Magistrate. This means the Magistrate needs to verbally give their decision to the Legal Advisor, which allows them to do any final quality control before the result is entered.
Under the new arrangements the Magistrate will be able to enter the result straight into Common Platform without that final check. Much as I am confident colleagues will rise to the occasion, I am not entirely comfortable with the idea of being able to sentence without that final input of the Legal Advisor.
For that reason I'll still not be jumping at the prospect of SJP work!
The new system is being phased in from 27th November 2023.
My understanding is that all Magistrates should undertake their share of SJP work to spread the burden fairly. Your statement, "I am in the fortunate position that I do not, as a matter of routine, undertake SJP work," suggests that you have some special privilege to avoid this work. In fact, any magistrate can decline SJP sittings if they wish to do so, but in the interests of fairness, most do their share. To suggest that you do not need to do this implies a certain level of self importance which is seen all to often in today's magistracy.
ReplyDeleteIn my area you only do SJP work if you volunteer to do it. It will only be allocated as a sitting on your rota if you have specifically agreed to it. I do not volunteer, so am not allocated SJP work. I wouldn't consider that a special privilege - it's just the way it works around our parts.
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