A few weeks
ago I mentioned the trouble brewing in Liverpool
over plans to impose Sunday Court Sittings in Criminal cases –
I have
rarely seen the profession so strongly united against a proposal which was being
rushed through without any real thought, or even costing.
Since then
there have been meetings at Liverpool Magistrates’ court and at a local Law
firm attended by the Vice President of the National Law Society. It was clear
that the solicitors affected had genuine and well reasoned concerns -
If they have
to work Sundays then they would have to require some staff to do the same.
Other
agencies including the Prison Service, Probation Service, Social Services might
also be required to be available. Indeed it seems that the prison service could
not give any assurance that those in custody on a Sunday would be dealt with
them. So they would end up back in the police station anyway.
Relatives
would find it difficult to travel to court on a Sunday when public transport is
reduced.
The scheme
depended on solicitors’ volunteering to attend as duty solicitors for anyone
arrested on a Saturday. The lawyers unanimously agreed that nobody would
volunteer. If one of their own clients were arrested then they would honour
their professional obligations to their clients but would not otherwise support
a scheme which was, by anyone’s reckoning harebrained!
The updated
position is summarised in the Law Society’s Gazette in a report where the Virtual
Lawyer gets a mention!
The scheme
has been shelved for now. Hopefully it will now be scrapped altogether.
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Criminal Injuries Compensation