Implementation Plan for the Criminal Justice Review -
The government recently published its Implementation Plan for the Criminal Justice Review and the Justice (Northern Ireland) Bill. The Plan is the governments response to the recommendations of the Criminal Justice Review. The Bill will legislate for those areas which need changes in the law.
From CAJ's Just News, December 2001
By Paul Mageean
Generally we are disappointed at the contents of the Plan in four principle areas:
·The Courts
·The judiciary,
·The prosecution service; and
·The guiding principles.
We are particularly concerned by the failure of the Report to focus on much needed recommendations. However, more worryingly, the structure of the Plan appears to substantially mirror that of the initial Patten Implementation Plan in that its main purpose seems to be to undermine some of the more radical proposals made by the Review particularly in the area of the prosecution service.
No independent mechanism for oversight of changes
Structurally, we have identified two main problems. The first is that, unlike the recommendation of the Patten Report, there is no independent mechanism for oversight of the changes envisaged. The case for such oversight in this process is more compelling than the case made by the Patten Report. Given the context of the Review, the changes proposed will affect many different agencies and institutions. It would therefore be crucial to have someone charged with overall responsibility for ensuring that change occurs and at the appropriate pace. Leaving this to the NIO or existing agencies will do nothing to inspire confidence that change will actually occur. This is because it was the poor performance of those very agencies which presumably motivated the parties to the Good FridayAgreement to establish the Review in the first place.
The second major problem (which is closely related to the first) is that in the vast majority of the recommendations we have looked at there is no timescale for implementation. Anyone familiar with the process of change in any organisation will immediately recognise this as a major block to
actually delivering change. Firm deadlines must be set if this Plan is to be considered as a contribution to the process of changing the criminal justice system. Combined these two problems mean that those who have been most resistant to change, who have caused many of the problems which have plagued the system, have now been placed in charge of the process of transformation and told they can deliver it at their own pace.
Obviously it is impossible to catalogue the specific concerns we have. CAJ will publish a detailed response to the proposals before Christmas. However, the few examples given below give readers a flavour of what is wrong with the Plan and Bill.
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