The lord chief justice has warned that budgetary pressures on the prosecution and the courts are having a ‘very real impact’ on the administration of justice and said there is ‘an undoubted danger’ that the situation could worsen.

In his first annual review, Lord Judge said: ‘I can well understand that difficult decisions have to be made at a time of acute financial pressure, but the efficiencies currently demanded of the Crown Prosecution Service, probation and the courts are having a very real impact on the administration of justice.’

While, at present, incidents where sittings are cancelled or custody time limits expire are ‘relatively isolated’, there is an ‘undoubted danger they will become increasingly commonplace’, he added.

Judge noted there had been a ‘significant’ increase in Crown court work, which has risen by 10% in the last year, and said those who are guilty must be encouraged to plead at the earliest opportunity, to stop the growing number of defendants who elect trial by jury then plead guilty at the first Crown court hearing.

‘We must look at ways to resolve, where appropriate, cases in the magistrates’ courts, which have the capacity, instead of the more expensive Crown court, that does not,’ said Judge.

Praising the Criminal Justice: Simple, Speedy, Summary programme, which has reduced the time taken to dispose of cases and the number of hearings per case, he said there are inefficiencies in the court system which need to be tackled.

‘As resources become tighter it will be important to reduce the number of wasted hearings to an irreducible minimum,’ he said. Part of the answer lies in more efficient case management, he suggested.

Judge also voiced concerns about the increased use of fixed penalty notices, cautions and conditional discharges, and urged caution in introducing any more legislative change which would add to workloads and ‘impact negatively’ on the entire criminal justice system.

Judge is also concerned that the introduction of means testing for legal aid eligibility in the Crown court will lead more defendants to represent themselves, causing delays and having a knock-on effect across the system.

A Ministry of Justice spokeswoman said the new Crown court means test was designed to minimise the increase in unrepresented defendants, while ensuring that those who could afford to make a contribution towards their defence costs did so.

Under the current system, she added, one in 1,000 defendants choose to represent themselves, and the MoJ does not believe means testing will cause a significant increase.