Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether her Department has had discussions with the Magistrates Association on reports of the use of targets for the number of Single Justice Procedures completed.

Magistrates are free to take as long as they need when making decisions on any criminal case, including those dealt with under the Single Justice Procedure (SJP). There is no set target for the number of cases decided in an SJP session and courts have been reminded of this.

We have not discussed this matter with the Magistrates’ Association.