England: Online courts will lead to more unrepresented defendants, thinktank warns

Transform Justice has today published a report warning that the Mnistry of Justice’s £1 billion court reform programme for England and Wales makes online plea proposals that could confuse defendants.

Legislation for online courts is currently being considered by Parliament and includes procedures for dealing with low-level cases online, such as rail fare offences or fishing without a rod and line license.

Under the scheme, defendants who plead guilty will be “offered the option of accepting an immediate conviction and predetermined standard penalty, which will be imposed by way of an automated online process, without the involvement of a magistrate”.

Penelope Gibbs, director of Transform Justice and a former magistrate, said: “The move to online and virtual justice threatens to significantly increase the number of unrepresented defendants, to further discriminate against vulnerable defendants, to inhibit the relationship between defence lawyers and their clients, and to make justice less open.

“Our criminal justice system is very complex and its fairness rests on parties understanding and participating in the process. This is difficult to achieve even when everyone is in a courtroom. Fundamental principles of justice and human rights are risked if we take justice wholly or partially out of the courtroom.”

As regards online courts, the report says: “The implications of pleading guilty, even for a minor offence, are significant including a criminal record for life. Will the online system fully signal all the implications of a criminal conviction?

“If there is no hearing for, and thus discussion of, the charge and plea, the opportunity for the defence to challenge the charge, and for the Crown Prosecution Service to correct their charging decision at an early stage, will be lost.”