Courts and Tribunals Bill

This government inherited a criminal justice system in crisis, with a record and rising Crown Court open caseload leaving tens of thousands of victims waiting years for justice. That is why the government commissioned Sir Brian Leveson to undertake an independent review of criminal courts. This review provides the blueprint for the structural reform that this Bill introduces. Alongside this the Bill introduces measures that ensure fairer trials for victims, protect children, modernise operational arrangements, and support consistent practice across the courts and tribunals.

The Bill will:

• Remove the right of defendants to elect for Crown Court trial in triable-either-way cases.
• Replace the automatic right to appeal to the Crown Court from the magistrates’ court in criminal proceedings with a permission stage and replacing the full rehearing in the Crown Court with a hearing on the issues for which leave to appeal has been granted.
• Introduce powers to extend magistrates’ court sentencing powers up to 18 months’ or 24 months’ maximum imprisonment for single and multiple triable-way offences, maintaining the ability to vary in 6-monthly increments by secondary legislation.
• Introduce a new tier of the existing Crown Court – the Bench Division – to hear triable either-way cases likely to receive a custodial sentence of three years or less by judge alone.
• Introduce trial by judge alone in the Crown Court for suitably technical and lengthy fraud and financial cases.
• Introduce clearer and more effective statutory thresholds governing the admissibility of certain types of evidence, addressing the risk of myths and misconceptions influencing trials and strengthen and clarify the operation of special measures in court.
• Repeal the presumption of parental involvement from the Children Act 1989 to prioritise the welfare of the child.
• Reform the office of the Senior President of Tribunals, bringing it into closer alignment with the leadership of the courts under the Lady Chief Justice.
• Amend a provision that attaches the title of Central Criminal Court to any Crown Court sitting in the City of London meaning only the Old Bailey will be known as the Central Criminal Court.
• Make changes to magistrates’ expenses, creating a power to move eligible categories for magistrates’ expenses to secondary legislation.