Prosecutors cause most delays – court study shows

Chief Inspector of Criminal Justice Dr Michael Maguire said the PSNI needs to "get it right the first time" when preparing case files, as it has the potential to improve overall case timescales.

Avoidable Delay, a report by the Criminal Justice Inspectorate (CJI), is based on a recent pilot project at Londonderry Magistrates' Court which recorded each court adjournment application and looked at the relationship between the PSNI and the PPS.

The study - conducted between February and April 2010 - found 84 per cent of all adjournments (1,076) were at the case progression stage (i.e. pre-hearing applications) while 14 per cent (180) were at the post-conviction stage.

It also contradicted claims by made by interviewees to a previous CJI inspection that the majority of court adjournments and lengthening courts lists are caused by the defence. This claim was not supported by the Londonderry study. The opposite was true.

The new report found that at the case progression stage, whilst 37 per cent (394) of adjournments were made by the defence, 61 per cent (653) were made by the prosecution and 3 per cent (29) were made by the court.

The report concludes: "Data from the Londonderry/Derry court pilot shows that 61 per cent of case progression adjournments in the adult magistrates' court are attributable to the prosecution.

"If this trend is confirmed and applicable in other court areas, the main responsibility for action rests with the PSNI and the PPS.

"The position in the Londonderry/Derry youth court is different in that 56 per cent of case progression adjournments are made by the defence and 40 per cent by the prosecution.

"As stated earlier, the vast majority of case progression adjournments are due to one or more parties not being ready to proceed with the case."

The findings demolish claims made to a previous CJI inspection. The report explains: "One of the main views expressed by many interviewees in the last CJI inspection was the perception that many adjournments were due to the defence.

"This was disputed by the legal profession at the time. The limited data from the pilot, in the adult magistrates' court in particular,

does not support this perception."

But the report does qualify this by claiming Londonderry is different.

"There is however considerable anecdotal evidence, supported by court observations, that the circumstances in Londonderry/Derry

may be different to other court areas such as Belfast," it states.

"This issue can only be satisfactorily resolved when a more comprehensive data set is available. Inspectors are recommending that the pilot adjournment project should be extended to include a representative sample of court areas," the report adds.

Amongst the reports other findings are that: 73 per cent (225) of cases at the case progression stage were adjourned because the case was not ready to proceed; 38 per cent (68) of cases at the post conviction stage were adjourned because pre-sentence reports were required, 58 per cent (104) were made by the Defence and 4 per cent (7) were made by the prosecution.

And at the Youth Court: 51 per cent of all adjournments (106) were at the case progression stage (i.e. pre-hearing applications) while 48 per cent (100) were at the post-conviction stage; at the case progression stage, 40 per cent (42) of adjournments were made by the defence, 56 per cent (59) were made by the prosecution and 5 per cent (5) were made by the court; 85 per cent (90) of cases at the case progression stage were adjourned because the case was not ready to proceed; and 42 per cent (42) of adjournments at the post-conviction stage were made by the court, 56 per cent (56) by the Defence and 2 per cent by the prosecution.

Dr Maguire called for a change in the way justice organisations work to reduce the time it takes for an individual to pass through the justice system and have their case dealt with by a court.

Dr Maguire said: "Delay continues to occur at each stage of the criminal justice process which negatively impacts on victims, witnesses and defendants and undermines their confidence in the criminal justice system."

He continued: "Criminal Justice Inspection recognises that delivering the required changes on the ground is a key challenge for the criminal justice system.

"Throughout this inspection we have worked closely with the justice agencies in discussing the nature of the problems and the way forward."

He said he welcomed the actions already underway within the system but added: "CJI's previous inspection of avoidable delay published four years ago, produced a positive initial response from the criminal justice system.

"However, this latest inspection has established that attempts to deal with the problems have made little impact, and there are a number of important issues that need to be addressed immediately by the various justice organisations.

"We have recommended the quality and timeliness of files being submitted by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) to the Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland (PPS) needs to improve.

"The PSNI also needs to realise its vision of 'getting it right first time' for case files, as it has the potential to improve overall case timescales, aid PPS decision-making and help address the causes of court adjournments."