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British plan for 24-hour ‘riot courts’ opposed

The chair of a practitioner group in Britain has told the country’s Ministry of Justice that criminal-defence solicitors do not have the capacity or resources to support 24-hour courts.

According to the Law Society Gazette of England and Wales, the comments were made in response to reports that the additional-courts protocol could be activated to deal with cases arising from the current wave of riots sweeping the country.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Keir Starmer declared that those who had participated in “far-right thuggery” would face the full force of the law.

The Gazette says that the British Government also signalled over the weekend that overnight courts could be set up to deal with cases arising from the riots.

Resources

In an open letter, however, Daniel Bonich (chair of the Criminal Law Solicitors Association) has told the Ministry of Justice that he is disappointed that no one has spoken to practitioner groups representing criminal-law practitioners.

Noting that the additional-courts protocol was activated for the London riots in 2011, Bonich said: “[This] is not 2011. Since 2011 more than a third of criminal-legal-aid solicitors have left the profession and a third of firms have closed. Legal-aid rates have fallen by more than 30% in real terms at a time when the cost of living, and the costs of running a business have ballooned.”

He added that firms had neither the capacity nor the resources to help staff 24-hour court sessions.

Risk

“Our members are not willing or able to prop up a failing system. We will be making it clear to our members that they should think carefully before putting themselves and their firms at further risk by stepping into the breach once more,” Bonich stated.

The Criminal Bar Association (CBA) has also opposed 24-hour courts.

CBA chair Tana Adkin KC said: “The working day does not begin and end with the court hearing. Reading, researching, preparing written work all takes place outside court, much of it unremunerated.”