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The lies begin.
The backlog in the criminal courts has *NOT* been caused by Covid-19. It has been exacerbated, but was already nearly 40,000 cases in the Crown Court pre-Covid.
The delays are due to the govt’s refusal to resource the justice system.
Don’t let them lie to you. https://twitter.com/bbcpolitics/status/1273972850186166277
The backlog in the criminal courts has *NOT* been caused by Covid-19. It has been exacerbated, but was already nearly 40,000 cases in the Crown Court pre-Covid.
The delays are due to the govt’s refusal to resource the justice system.
Don’t let them lie to you. https://twitter.com/bbcpolitics/status/1273972850186166277
The government chose to repeatedly cut "court sitting days" - causing a huge backlog of trials.
The Justice Secretary and Lord Chief Justice are now both openly endorsing abolishing jury trials, to "solve" the "problem" that the government deliberately engineered.
The Justice Secretary and Lord Chief Justice are now both openly endorsing abolishing jury trials, to "solve" the "problem" that the government deliberately engineered.
We have warned about this for YEARS. Til we were blue in the face. The government kept cutting, and the press largely ignored it, favouring "soft sentence" nonsense peddled by the Home Office.
Now we face a genuine threat to one of the fundaments of our constitution.
Now we face a genuine threat to one of the fundaments of our constitution.
If you are a young black man falsely accused by the police of assault, you currently have the right to trial by a jury of your peers.
The government want to replace that with trial by a single (likely white and middle-aged) judge and two (likely white and over-60) magistrates.
The government want to replace that with trial by a single (likely white and middle-aged) judge and two (likely white and over-60) magistrates.
There are arguments against the way we do jury trial (I make some in my book). But, for better or worse, it is accepted as the gold standard of criminal justice. It should not be removed because the government has slashed the justice system and is looking for a quick cheap fix.
I'm going to stop, because this could end up as a 30-tweet thread I'm so gosh darn angry. We all suspected this was coming, but it doesn't make it any easier to swallow. The sheer vandalism of this sham of a government on our institutions is beyond belief. Aaaarrrrrrrggghhhhhhhh.
