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Press Notice – Annual Report 2024-25

Published:

Maintaining status quo will not fix court backlog, says HMCPSI Chief Inspector

In a letter to the Attorney General, the Chief Inspector of the prosecution watchdog is calling for radical action now to fix court backlog and prevent a national emergency.

In his first annual report as Chief Inspector of His Majesty’s Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate (HMCPSI), Anthony Rogers has written to the Attorney General calling on the government and criminal justice system to take radical action to fix the court backlog.

Anthony Rogers recognises that the government inherited a system that was overstretched and welcomes the recommendations made by Sir Brian Leveson in his review of the criminal courts.

However, the Chief Inspector argues that every day the Government takes to consider Sir Biran Leveson’s recommendations, the backlog increases, justice is delayed, and more victims are dropping out of the criminal justice system.

Chief Inspector Anthony Rogers said:

“The criminal justice system is in a state of national emergency and delays are unsustainable.

“The recommendations made by Sir Brian Leveson are welcome and may address problems in the future. But they will take time to implement and will not address the immediate issue as backlogs continue to increase daily as more cases are received than finalised.

“Calls from the legal profession to maintain the status quo and throw more money at the problem are unhelpful. It does nothing to solve the serious issues at hand. Everyone needs to recognise that if we don’t move to act now all will be lost. Holding on to long established principles and resisting change and innovation will further diminish the system that so many rely on.

“The world is a far different place post austerity and Covid, and all actors in the criminal justice system – from government and judiciary to the Bar – need to implement radical solutions today or our great legal system will no longer be the envy of the world.”

HMCPSI’s Annual Report 2024-25 was laid in Parliament on Friday 18 July and includes a summary of the inspectorate’s activities over the past year, which include six reports relating to the CPS, one related to the SFO and an inspection by invitation of the Service Prosecution Service.

In his letter to the Attorney General, Anthony also sets out how he intends to improve engagement with victims and victims’ groups to help HMCPSI develop its inspections and increase awareness of CPS and SFO’s role in the criminal justice system.