At Full Capacity

Joanna Hardy-Susskind tweets:

I could literally reduce the Crown Court backlog in 9 steps starting tomorrow. And precisely none of it would involve tampering with jury trials.

First. Sit at full capacity. Open closed courtrooms. The argument ‘there aren’t enough judges or lawyers’ really doesn’t lend itself to supporting a Crown Court Bench Division either. Open the physical space. Without it, prospects of success are 0%.

Second. Reverse the resigned acceptance that companies with lucrative contracts of public money can’t drive a prison van up a road on time, or at all. They can. And they should. And if they don’t - the contract should be pulled.

Third. List cases sensibly. Stop listing interlocutory matters in the middle of trials. Step one will help. Giving each case proper time (instead of simply setting stage dates on a conveyor belt) will help resolve cases sensibly. Justice isn’t a factory. Stop treating it as one.

Fourth. Repair. Why am I walking around wet carpets? Why is the temperature either ‘inferno’ or ‘arctic’? Why are the jury being sent home because it’s too hot/cold/wet? Why - in 2026 - can we still not master a videolink? We are the only adults left who cannot do this.

Fifth. Recruit and retain judges. And recruit and retain judges who have the very specific skills required to navigate the rough and the tumble of adversarial criminal litigation. This will require investment. It’s worth it.

Sixth. Take real steps to stem the attrition of criminal barristers. Last week I had a conversation with 2 other senior barristers fantasising about being a) a florist, b) a dressmaker & c) a stay at home mummy. We are all experienced RASSO lawyers. And we were deadly serious.

Seven. Legislate that full credit for a guilty plea is available until the evidence is served. Yes ‘he knows if he did it’ but, welcome, my friends, to the real world. The prosecution need to prove their case & - shock, horror - when they can people are much more likely to plead.

Eight. The ‘Better Case Management’ regime is the funniest name in the world for a system that is neither better nor managed. Most days it resembles a clown car that has become a flaming inferno. Work out why hardly anyone ever complies with a court direction. And solve that.

Nine. We need emergency measures to get the backlog down. Now. If you’re willing to run the gauntlet of public opinion by fiddling with jury trials then do this instead: A set period. A set group of offences (non violent, non sexual). An enhanced credit system for backlog cases.

I won’t trouble you with ten because it sounds counter-productive but, for anyone still interested, the option of a 4-day trial week with a 1-day ‘free’ listing day for other matters (for judge and counsel) would actually speed up the flow of the entire system considerably.

Eleven, if the MOJ were still talking to me (hi guys 🥹) is to abolish the judge’s factual summing up in cases lasting 3 days or less. The jury don’t need to hear it all again. A bullet point summary of the competing issues with a RTV would do - with the option to apply for more.

And twelve, if you’re going to commission an experienced and retired judge to opine on these matters and part of his enquiry relates to ‘efficiencies’ then maybe, just maybe, in a system that is so inefficient it is basically haemorrhaging time, maybe do that bit *first*.

Criminal barrister saying she had 9 points and making 12. A CLASSIC, YOUR HONOUR ❤️