A criminal injustice?

Ever since Magna Carta, British justice has been admired. Yesterday its foundations were undermined

David Blunkett, the Home Secretary, unveiled a complete overhaul of the criminal justice system yesterday, dramatically shifting the balance in court away from defendants in favour of prosecutors and victims.

Senior barristers and civil rights groups lined up to criticise the measures that included the abolition of the 800-year-old laws governing "double jeopardy" for serious offences that prevent a person being tried twice.

The proposals also recast principles enshrined in the Magna Carta by ending many defendants' right to be tried by jury. The historic change, which the Home Secretary justified by citing advances in forensic science, opened the way for possible retrials in high-profile cases such as the murder of Stephen Lawrence.

The proposed changes drew immediate opposition from senior figures in the criminal justice system. Anthony Scrivener, a leading QC, said he was opposed to the double jeopardy reform because it was not restricted solely to new scientific evidence. Other critics said that the measure could lead to the repeated prosecution of innocent people. The Law Society, the professional body for solicitors, also voiced its concerns.

Under the proposals, judges would be allowed discretionary powers to disclose to juries details of a defendant's criminal convictions as well as previous acquittals seen as relevant to the case being heard. The number of cases heard before a jury is also set to fall considerably following the introduction of reforms in the White Paper, Justice for All.

Judges will be able to sit alone to hear "serious and complex" fraud trials as well as cases where they believe a jury has been intimidated. They may also sit alone in organised crime cases, particularly where they involve "complex financial and commercial arrangements".

The number of cases heard in magistrates' courts will also increase as the sentencing powers of magistrates are increased from six months to a year, and possibly to 18 months. Defendants will be allowed to opt for judge-only hearings but will retain the right to have their case put before a jury.

Critics of the reforms suggested that accused individuals could never fully prove their innocence. Liberty, the human rights pressure group, said watering down the double jeopardy principle by extending it to offences such as armed robbery may only help to convict a few serious criminals. John Wadham, Liberty's director, said: "For innocent people, even once acquitted, their ordeal won't be over. Police and prosecutors, knowing they can have a 'second bash', won't have to tackle real problems of incompetent investigation in the first place."

The Bar Council said it opposed many of the proposals. David Bean QC, chairman of the Bar, said: "disclosing previous convictions risked miscarriages of justice". A former judge, Gerald Butler, said he would not want judges to sit alone when they were hearing fraud cases.

But Sir David Phillips, president of the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo), praised the White Paper, saying it contained "some radical and strikingly simple ideas". The underlying principle of the paper was "to rebalance the criminal justice system in favour of the victim and the community so as to reduce crime and bring more offenders to justice".

Other measures designed to help prosecutors included allowing "hearsay" evidence from witnesses who could not attend court, fining defence lawyers who used delaying tactics, and allowing juries access to pre-trial statements by the defendant. Mr Blunkett also offered "sentence discounts" to defendants who entered a guilty plea. The Home Secretary announced "indeterminate sentences" for offenders who were seen to be a continuing danger to society. Police were given powers to impose curfews and other bail conditions on suspects for whom they had insufficient evidence to charge.

Mr Blunkett said the reforms send out the "strongest possible message to those who commit crimes that action will be effective in detecting, convicting and properly punishing the perpetrators."