“We have record backlogs in the crown courts. We have a prison population that is not reducing any time soon. It is difficult to see where the capacity is going to come from that will enable these prisoners to be sentenced.” – Richard Miller, our head of justice. As of this month, the Crown Court backlog has hit a new record high of more than 65,000 cases. Richard explains that this is what we’re up against as a result of years of “chronic underinvestment” in the justice system. He adds: “The government is absolutely entitled to decide what should be the framework for sentencing prisoners and what length of prison sentencing should be imposed. But the government then has a responsibility to ensure that the capacity of the criminal justice system is sufficient to deal with that situation. And that means the courts, prosecutors, defence lawyers and the prisons. They all need to be properly funded.” We’re calling on the government to address the problems in our crumbling criminal justice system. You can read our policy recommendations in full here: lawsociety.org.uk/campaigns/crim
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