The criminal court, symbolised by the blindfolded figure holding the sword and scales, was once seen as the embodiment of all that was best in British justice. By the 1990s, it was coming under criticism as being too expensive, slow, unfairly weighted in favour of the defendant, insensitive to the needs of victims and witnesses, ineffective in finding the truth and punishing those who are guilty, too narrowly focused on the offence rather than the offender, and incomprehensible to many of those who take part and to the public. This chapter considers a set of connected questions relating to the nature of the criminal trial and alternatives to it; the scope of the criminal law; the nature and purpose of punishment as it is administered by the state; the position and treatment of victims and witnesses; and the various forms of restorative justice as part of, or as an adjunct to, the criminal process.

Court proceedings and legislation

Governments have promoted reforms to sentencing and the criminal law at various times over the past 30 years. The Conservative government sought to cut costs and reduce delays as part of the Financial Management Initiative in the 1980s; it set up the Crown Prosecution Service following the report of the Royal Commission on Criminal Procedure (1981); and it established the Criminal Cases Review Commission to review alleged miscarriages of justice, as recommended by the Royal Commission on Criminal Justice (1993). The Labour government sought to improve efficiency, increase rates of conviction and ‘rebalance the system’ in favour of the public and the victim as part of the reforms associated with the 2003 Criminal Justice Act (Home Office, 2002). Specific measures included the closure of magistrates’ courts, restrictions on legal aid, encouraging guilty pleas, ‘on the spot’ fines, changes to the rules of evidence and procedure, and dispensing with juries in certain cases. Some of them are being extended by the Conservative–Liberal Democratic coalition government that took office in 2010.

Many of the previous Labour government's measures, especially those in the Criminal Justice Act, 2003 relating to evidence and trials without a jury, and indeterminate sentences for public protection, were criticised as threatening the quality of justice.