Steve Quayle News Alerts

July 17, 2002

Home Secretary David Blunkett has revealed his plans for an "end-to-end" revamp of the criminal justice system, including proposals to scrap the ancient double jeopardy rule.

The people of this country deserve a criminal justice system which works in the interest of justice and puts the victim first David Blunkett

Re-trials will be allowed for serious offences such as murder, rape and armed robbery when "compelling" new evidence such as DNA comes to light, Mr Blunkett told MPs.

The change - which affects England and Wales - will be retrospective, so suspects who have already been acquitted could find themselves back in the dock - raising the prospect of re-trials over cases such as the murders of Stephen Lawrence and Damilola Taylor.

The proposals were broadly welcomed by the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats.

No change to jury trial

But the two parties also said there were elements which were "fraught with danger" - while the Liberty pressure group said the government was "blaming fair trial protections for crime rates".

Under the proposals - which are set out in a White Paper - a defendant's right to trial by jury will remain even for relatively minor offences, contrary to press reports earlier this week.

But magistrates and youth courts will be able to hear more serious cases, the home secretary confirmed.

There will also be more incentive for defendants to plead guilty at an early stage, formalising the process of "plea bargaining" which already takes place in many courts.

Judges will only be allowed to sit without a jury in serious fraud cases or where there is a risk of jurors being intimidated.

'Speeding up' process

Jurors will also be allowed to hear defendants' previous convictions and "hearsay" evidence in some cases.

Dangerous or violent offenders will be kept in prison indefinitely, even if they have not been sentenced to life, the White Paper adds.

Magistrates' sentencing powers will be increased from 6 months to 12 months and legislation will eventually be passed to increase them to 18 months.

There will also be measures to speed up the justice system and cut down on the number of aborted trials.

The home secretary said he wanted to "rebalance the criminal justice system in favour of the victim".

Unveiling his plans, Mr Blunkett told MPs: "The people of this country deserve a criminal justice system which works in the interest of justice and puts the victim first."

Tory backing

Outlining his proposals on double jeopardy, he said: "We will be confining this to murder and serious, violent and sexual offences such as rape where DNA evidence would be very material to the case."

The director of public prosecutions will have to personally give the go-ahead for police to re-investigate the suspect.

Mr Blunkett also admitted he did not have enough money to introduce all his plans.

The cost here is that crime levels will go untouched, while British justice will be seriously damaged - John Wadham, Liberty

The home secretary is said to be frustrated with Chancellor Gordon Brown's spending review, in which the home office came off badly compared with other departments.

Shadow home secretary Oliver Letwin backed the majority of Mr Blunkett's proposals.

But he warned that the fairness of British justice should be protected.

In particular, he would be poring over Mr Blunkett's proposals on double jeopardy, trial by jury and the disclosure of defendants previous convictions in some cases.

'Victim at the centre'

Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Simon Hughes also broadly welcomed the home secretary's proposals.

He said they would put the victim "much more at the centre of the criminal justice system."

But he said he opposed the disclosure of previous convictions, double jeopardy and the setting of maximum sentences for serious offences, which Mr Blunkett wants to retain for the home secretary.

Mr Blunkett's plans have come in for harsh criticism from civil rights campaigners.

Erosion

John Wadham, director of Liberty, said: "Politicians feel they must look tough at all costs - but the cost here is that crime levels will go untouched, while British justice will be seriously damaged.

"And the measures that attack fair trial standards won't help victims either: eroding the rights of suspects won't give victims the rights they have waited too long to receive."

Labour peer Helena Kennedy QC has branded them a "wholesale assault on civil liberties."

She said Mr Blunkett was just making a "knee jerk response to concerns about crime...instead of actually addressing their own policy failures."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk_politics/newsid_2132000/2132683.stm