Magistrates’ courts are ‘in a state of disarray’

There are calls to suspend the faster ‘secret’ hearings for fear of a rise in miscarriages of justice
Closed-door hearings deal with high volumes of cases that are administrative in nature, such as road traffic offences
Closed-door hearings deal with high volumes of cases that are administrative in nature, such as road traffic offences
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Fears are mounting that a bureaucratic efficiency drive coupled with rising numbers of defendants who are unrepresented by lawyers is leading to miscarriages of justice in magistrates’ courts.

“Our magistrates’ courts are in a state of disarray and the risk of miscarriages of justice has never been higher,” says Naima Sakande, the women’s justice advocate at Appeal, a charity law firm.

All criminal cases in England and Wales start in the magistrates’ court and about 95 per cent conclude there. Hundreds of thousands of people are convicted at the courts each year by a single district judge or tribunal of up to three lay magistrates.

The process is designed to deal with cases faster than the more costly crown court structure of a judge and