'Community courts' on Labour's justice agenda

Australian-style 'community courts', a 50% increase in the number of Crown prosecutors, a more racially diverse judiciary and an extension of human rights would be on the agenda of a future Labour government, the shadow justice secretary has revealed. In a major speech at London's Middle Temple, Steve Reed MP also hinted at reviving the idea of a levy on City law firms. 

Reed's speech, which included a reference to Tony Blair's 'tough on crime' statement as well as to Magna Carta and the 1689 Bill of Rights, will be interpreted as an attempt to seize the law and order agenda. It included a raft of proposals to 'prevent crime, punish criminals and protect the public'. 

Focusing on anti-social behaviour, he cited Australia's community courts, involving 'community leaders, social workers, school teachers and others' as a way to tackle low-level offending. 'They do this by harnessing the power of the community, of leaders whose authority a young offender respects, and they steer them away from offending with a persuasive mixture of sanctions and support.'

He pledged to 'work with the legal and children's professions to explore how we could introduce community courts as a pre-charge diversion here in the UK'.

In a specific spending commitment, Reed pledged to increase by one half the number of staff employed by the government to serve as Crown prosecutors. 'We will do that by allowing associate prosecutors, with proper training, to use their skills and qualifications to get the wheels of justice turning.'

He also promised to open specialist rape courts across the country and to 'work with the judiciary to list rape cases as a higher priority, and fast-track them through the system'.

On judicial diversity, he said 'It can't be right that our highest court currently has only one woman serving on it and has never had a judge from an ethnic minority.' He pledged to work with the judiciary and the professions to extend non-traditional routes to the bench. 'This includes employed barristers, legal executives and others,' he said. 'We must create a wider and deeper pool of candidates for the highest judicial positions.'

A Labour government would also take action on so-called SLAPP cases, with 'tough penalties against abusive litigation'. People unfairly targeted would be protected from excessive costs,' he said. 

Reed also hinted that the idea of a levy on City law firms - floated by Michael Gove as lord chancellor in 2015 - may return to the agenda. After praising the legal sector's contribution to the economy, Reed said: 'Many global law firms have a home here. In any home, the inhabitants must recognise their shared obligations to each other. We need those businesses who benefit the most from the great social, cultural and economic advantages of this country to do more to help those who have been left furthest behind.'

On human rights, Reed condemned Dominic Raab's Bill of Rights, saying 'Let's call it what it is. A Rights Reduction Act.' A Labour government will protect and promote both the Human Rights Act and the European Convention on Human Rights, he said. 

'Indeed, we will go beyond this... We will explore which social and economic human rights require legal protection in the modern world. We will debate the next frontier of our human rights and fundamental freedoms.' These might include rights to clean air, or a sustainable climate and a right to adequate health care and sufficient nutrition.

'I'm not a lawyer. I'm not here to serve the legal profession, but to ensure our justice system always serves the public interest,' Reed - a former Law Society employee - told the audience. 

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