Courts: Backlogs

Baroness Chakrabarti Excerpts

Wednesday 15th January 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede (Lab)]

I thank the noble and right reverend Lord for his observations. We are taking a different approach, which is to look at the overall working efficiency of the court system. I acknowledge that there are substantial backlogs, particularly in rape cases, because they are often very complex cases. There is also the added distressing fact that many rape victims drop out of the process because of the lengthy delays. I acknowledge that that is a problem, but we believe that the best way to address this is to look at how the system operates as a whole. We are looking forward to receiving Sir Brian’s recommendations in due course.

[Baroness Chakrabarti (Lab)]

My Lords, I hope my noble friend the Minister knows that I have a lifetime of respect for professional tribunals, lawyers and judges, including Sir Brian, and their fair remuneration. Notwithstanding concerns about the backlog, which are considerable, I hope he agrees with me that there will always be benefit in jury trial for the most serious cases. That benefit is about public confidence, legitimacy and participation in the legal system on which the rule of law depends.

[Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede (Lab)]

I completely agree with my noble friend: public confidence is absolutely paramount. That is one reason why jury trials were persisted with—quite rightly—during the Covid period. Having said that, there are certain types of cases where it is maybe not appropriate that a jury trial should be available. I anticipate that Sir Brian is looking at those sorts of cases.