Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that Single Justice Procedure notices are (a) served effectively and (b) received by the intended recipient.

Prosecutors using the Single Justice Procedure (SJP) are responsible for the service of SJP notices and these are presently served by first class post or by email. The Ministry of Justice does not have supervisory functions over SJP prosecutors, and it is the responsibility of the courts and the independent judiciary, to satisfy themselves that SJP notices have been served in accordance with the rules.

If a defendant is not aware of the proceedings they can make a statutory declaration which revokes the conviction, and they will then be required to submit a formal written response to the original SJP notice so that the process begins again.

The Government acknowledges the criticisms and shortcomings in the operation of the SJP and recognises the importance of ensuring that the SJP is accessible and fair to all defendants. That is why we launched a consultation on the oversight and regulation of private prosecutors which included a chapter on the SJP. The consultation closed on 8 May and work is ongoing to analyse the responses received and look at ways to reform the SJP which improves safeguards and efficiency in the process.