Outlining plans to increase the efficiency of the criminal justice process today, Nick Herbert said the response to the recent riots showed how the process could be improved.

He wants to extend the use of virtual courts and digitise the system, saving time and money.

Addressing the Police Superintendents Association, the minister for policing and criminal justice said: ‘The recent riots showed us what the criminal justice can achieve. Straightforward cases were identified and prepared more quickly. We need to see how effective triage could be applied so as to fast-track cases in future, and we need to consider ways to deter unnecessary delay.’

Herbert said that over 1,600 riot-related cases had already come before the courts, and in ‘stark contrast’ to the ‘usual pace of justice’, some were resolved ‘in a matter of hours’ and ‘many within days of arrest’.

By comparison, he said it took an average of 140 days to dispose of cases in the magistrates’ court.

Only four out of every 10 cases go ahead on the planned day and too often cases do not reach a satisfactory conclusion. Part of the problem, he said, is that the system is set up to deal with trials when most cases end up with guilty pleas.

But Herbert said there is also ‘basic inefficiency’ in the system. ‘While the rest of the world embraces electronic technology, the criminal justice system likes to use paper - lots of it. Multiple files are prepared by different agencies. Highly trained police officers waste time photocopying documents. IT systems do not link to each other.’

Outlining measures to tackle the problems, Herbert said that by next April the criminal justice system will go digital, with secure electronic transfer of case files between the police, prosecutors and the courts.

He said the government will extend the use of virtual courts, allowing defendants to appear in court from police or prison cells by video link, and use the same technology to allow police to give evidence from their stations.

To improve the transparency of the process, Herbert said that, as well as televising court proceedings, he wants statistics on the number of ineffective trials at each court made available to allow the public to compare their performance.

He said: ‘We need to learn from the response to the riots and see where justice could normally be done more effectively.’

‘Swift justice is currently the exception, but it should be the rule.’