Criminal practitioners should be aware that in January the Stop Delaying Justice Scheme will take effect. The aim of this apparently is to achieve disposal of criminal trials in two hearings - first appearance and trial date.

In a letter to practitioners in London, the chief prosecutor for London has indicated the CPS’s commitment to this.

She states that prosecutors will seek to engage with defence practitioners at the first hearing to ‘identify the real issues and deal with... aspects of... case preparation...’

One questions how this will be possible. Recent experience shows that all prosecutors in court are shackled by a management process that does not allow them to make decisions in relation to cases. It is also intended that applications in relation to hearsay and bad character would be made oral on the first appearance and that the court will be asked to waive requirements for a written response.

In doing this, the safeguards in place to protect the defendant (who may be innocent) will be avoided in the name of case management.

Finally, transcripts of interviews will not be provided in many cases and the onus will shift to the defence to ensure that an accurate summary or transcript is placed before the court.

It is to be presumed that the next stage will be for the presumption of innocence to be removed and replaced with a presumption of guilt.

Kieran Fielding, Pearson Fielding, Liverpool