Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of protections for defendants under the Single Justice Procedure.

The Government acknowledges the criticisms in relation to the Single Justice Procedure (SJP) and 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 adequacy of safeguards in 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.

The Government response to the consultation is expected to be published later this year.

There are several existing safeguards built into the SJP process to ensure a defendant’s fair trial rights are protected. The defendant retains the right to have a full hearing in open court. SJP is available where they waive that right, either expressly or by failing to respond to the process, but only in circumstances where the court has first satisfied itself that the relevant documents were served on the accused.

If a defendant does not know about the case until after it has finished, they can make a statutory declaration to that effect, which will restart the proceedings again from the beginning. Magistrates can adjourn the case if further information is required, or refer the case to be heard in open court if it would be more appropriate than continuing under SJP.

Where a defendant pleads not guilty, the case is listed for summary trial before a bench of magistrates in open court.