Hundreds of suspected rapists, violent thugs and drug traffickers could be freed on bail ahead of trial because of a cutback on part-time judges.
The controversial move has been made in a bid to meet cash-saving targets set by the government.
It follows the decision to allow some 5,500 inmates convicted of less serious offenses to be released early to free up space in overcrowded prisons.
The reduction of court days may lead to delays which would force judges to consider extending custody time limits – the six-month maximum where defendants charged with serious crimes can be legally detained awaiting trial.
But they will be bound by strict legal guidance which says issues such a lack of courtrooms are not sufficient cause.
Last night furious former Lord Chancellor Sir Robert Buckland KC slammed the move saying “courtrooms which should be dealing with criminals are lying empty”.
He said: “Politics is all about choices. This Government has chosen to give an inflation-busting pay award to train drivers, for instance, and yet they are prepared to allow people accused of very serious crimes who should be in custody awaiting trial to walk free.
“We have courts available – but courtrooms which should be dealing with criminals are lying empty.”
Recorders – barristers or solicitors paid by the day to preside over court cases – have become a mainstay by plugging up gaps in the number of permanent judges
Now the Judicial Office, which oversees the judiciary, has confirmed that hundreds of court days where recorders were due to preside over busy crime lists have been axed. Without these days criminal court cases will be further delayed, exasperating the current 80,000 backlog.
All judges were sent an “operational letter” by the Judicial Office last week to identify how to cope with recent government cuts to the number of days when courtrooms can operate.
It confirmed that 404 court days presided over by part time judges are to be canceled between now and 31 March next year.
Of those, 140 will be in London, 185 in the North West with 79 in the South West.
Ominously, the letter warned: “Judges will need to take some difficult decisions…. including the removal of a case from the list, the grant of bail, or decisions on custody time limits.”
In a clear instruction to obey guidelines, the letter reminded judges to “express themselves in appropriate judicial terms.”
Binding legal guidelines for prosecutors – whose job it is to persuade judges that an extension is needed – state they must provide “good and sufficient cause”.
This includes delays in obtaining forensic evidence or the need to try jointly charged defendants at the same time.
However, the guidance states that “in routine cases the unavailability of a judge or courtroom would not in itself be enough” to warrant an extension.
There are currently a record 17,070 defendants on remand for serious crimes – 10 percent more than last year.
In 2022 Oxford's most senior judge, Justice Ian Pringle, refused to extend the custody time limit of four people accused of stabbing 40-year-old Keith Green to death in his Banbury back garden.
But legal sources have said murder cases would probably be fast-tracked to meet the six-month threshold.
The Government confirmed it would be honoring inherited plans to reduce the number of sitting court days by two percent, to 106,000. It added 500 days, but without new funding.
Sir Robert said: “This Government's actions fly in the face of their rhetoric on cutting the backlog.”
He said another option is to use secondary legislation to temporarily extend the custody time limit to eight months, as he did in the pandemic.
“The idea this government is helpless in the face of a supposedly inherited crisis is wrong,” he said. “They have options they have not taken.”
And last night, Shadow Justice Secretary Ed Agar said: “This decision will be deeply disappointing to victims, and risks increasing backlogs.
“One hundred days in, and this government has shown how little it cares about the victims of crime.”
Mary Prior KC chair of the Criminal Bar Association said: “Cuts in sitting days may save some limited amount of money from one budget but it will increase costs in others. The true cost is that people stop believing in justice. People may well ask, what is the point of calling the police to report a crime if it takes between 4 and 6 years for the trial to be heard”.
According to the Bar Council: “The MoJ has confirmed that Crown Court days are being capped at 106,000 this year – two per cent lower than the previous year when the number of sitting days was uncapped.”
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “Since coming to power, the new government has increased the number of Crown Court sitting days to a total of 106,500 – more than in six out of the last seven years.
“While we are bound by a challenging financial inheritance, this government is committed to bearing down on the crown courts backlog.”