Olympic crimes brought to swift justice
During London’s Olympics Her Majesty’s Courts & Tribunals Service acted efficiently and effectively to bring Olympic crimes to justice.
During London’s Olympics Her Majesty’s Courts & Tribunals Service acted efficiently and effectively to bring Olympic crimes to justice, Courts Minister Jonathan Djanogly said today.
Thanks to the hard work of the courts, criminal justice practitioners and agencies, which went in ahead of the start of the games, all courts and tribunals across London operated as planned.
In the criminal courts, a process was put in place to ‘fast track’ any cases directly connected with the London 2012 Games. To date 84 such cases have been listed at London magistrates’ courts. Of the 84 fast track cases, 36 have already been dealt with by the magistrates’ courts and 28 cases have been sent or committed to the Crown Court. All these Crown Court cases had an effective preliminary hearing within 8 days of being sent and 10 of the cases were disposed of at this stage. Currently there remains 20 cases at the magistrates’ courts and 18 cases at the crown courts.
The courts are now gearing up to deliver the same efficient service throughout the Paralympics games which begin tomorrow.
Courts Minister, Jonathan Djanogly said:
‘I am impressed by the dedication and commitment of the courts in dealing efficiently with these cases. It was another example, following the summer disturbances last year, of how flexible and effective the criminal justice system can be. I am confident this will continue throughout the Paralympics.
‘In the future we plan to continue this efficiency drive by rolling out digital working across the system, removing unnecessary bureaucracy and maximising the use of video technology to allow more cases to be heard without delay.’
Notes to editors:
- An Olympic crime by definition is any crime that had or may have had an impact upon the effective delivery or image of the Games.
- Last month the Government launched the Criminal Justice Reform White Paper to make the criminal justice system more efficient and responsive to the demands of local areas.
- For more information please call the Ministry of Justice Press Office on 0203334 3536. Follow us on twitter@MOJpress