This crisis won’t stop justice, says top judge
MANCHESTER’S top judge has vowed that coronavirus won’t stop justice.
Judge David Stockdale QC, the Honorary Recorder of Manchester, spoke to the M.E.N. after it was announced that most jury trials will be postponed.
New trials which had been due to start before the end of April, which were expected to last for three days or more, will all be adjourned as the outbreak takes its toll on the criminal justice system.
The Lord Chief Justice, the country’s most senior judge, said it is hoped that ongoing trials will be completed without incident.
While accepting it will affect the way courts are run, Judge Stockdale, who is retiring at the end of the week, said the courts will continue.
He said: “It’s a bad time to be going, at a time when public institutions like this are under strain through the coronavirus.
“We have to try to get the job done. The criminal justice system is not stopping because of coronavirus.
“But the practicality of delivering criminal justice is significantly affected.”
The Ministry of Justice says it plans to make use of video links and other technology, to help cases to continue.
But there have been reports of jurors who were supposed to attend court not turning up because they are self isolating, as well as lawyers and defendants also being affected.
In a statement, Lord Burnett of Maldon, the Lord Chief Justice, said: “Trials in the Crown Court present particular problems in a fastdeveloping situation because they require the presence in court of many different participants including the judge, the jury, a defendant, lawyers and witnesses as well as staff.
“Given the risks of a trial not being able to complete, I have decided that no new trial should start in the Crown Court unless it is expected to last for three days or less. All cases estimated to last longer than three days listed to start before the end of April will be adjourned.”