Riots threaten to push Britain’s creaking justice system to breaking point

After nine days of violence and looting across the country, rioters are beginning to learn what it means to feel the full force of the law.

So far, more than 400 have been arrested and 140 charged. More are expected in the coming days.

Sir Keir Starmer has called for more police forces to use facial recognition technology to compare footage from CCTV, body-worn cameras and smartphones against images of suspects and offenders held on police databases.

It means that rioters can be tracked and arrested long after they leave the scene of the crime.

However, the potential influx of hundreds of offenders has sparked fears that it will overload the country’s crumbling justice system.

On Monday, Nick Emmerson, president of the Law Society of England and Wales, said that “significant neglect over the last decade” has severely damaged the criminal justice system which remains blighted by case backlogs.

He added: “The criminal defence profession is also depleted and overworked and the goodwill of the solicitors who are being called on to work additional anti-social hours is fast running out.”

Many remain alarmed at the Prime Minister’s proposal to introduce emergency 24-hour courts to rapidly sentence offenders.

The idea was raised in emergency talks between the Ministry of Justice and senior members of the judiciary last weekend amid pressure to crack down on riots that spread after the killing of three children in a Southport knife attack.

It came after the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) announced that it deployed an extra 70 lawyers working out of hours to charge arrested rioters.

However, Labour’s proposal frustrated many overworked and underpaid criminal defence lawyers who argue that Britain’s decrepit courts and overcrowded prisons lack the capacity needed to immediately charge and remand hundreds of rioters.

Criminal lawyers say the plan just isn’t practical. Barristers often use their evenings after court preparing for the next day.

Earl Pinnock, a criminal barrister at No5 Chambers, says: “When everyone else is sitting down and watching Corrie, barristers are working on their cases because there’s no point in turning up in court the following morning unless you’ve done the work – and that takes place overnight.”

Introducing 24-hour courts risks leaving prosecutors and defence lawyers no time to prepare for their cases, not least sleep.

Pinnock adds: “This is just not compatible with a system of justice which is supposed to be careful and cautious and meticulous in ensuring that justice is done, whether it’s done to victims of crime or to the perpetrators of crime.”

Lawyers aren’t the only ones affected. Judges, court clerks and ushers, security staff, probation officers, prison workers and van drivers transporting offenders would all need to work extra hours to keep courts running all day.

It presents an employment law headache as previous governments have discovered after plans to extend court operating hours have been accused of discriminating against those with caring and family responsibilities.

“I know that a lot of people at the criminal bar will just simply not work overnight,” says one criminal barrister with two young children. “You need to double the workforce.”

Overnight courts were last used during the 2011 London riots triggered by the death of Mark Duggan, when Sir Keir was Director of Public Prosecutions.

Around 3,000 people were arrested with more than 2,000 facing criminal charges and prison sentences linked to the violent riots, which later spread from the capital to other cities across the UK.

Sir Keir at the time claimed that it was the speed rather than severity of sentences given to those convicted of violence, looting and arson attacks which prevented reoffending and brought the chaos under control.

However, lawyers argue that chronic underfunding and legal aid cuts under successive Conservative governments mean that Sir Keir’s swift justice tactics would not fly today.

The shortage of judges, criminal lawyers, court staff and courtrooms will inevitably see the influx of riot arrests worsen the existing backlog of around 450,000 court cases in the crown courts and magistrates’ system.

Daniel Bonich, chairman of the Criminal Law Solicitors Association (CLSA), told the Ministry of Justice in an open letter published on Monday: “This is not 2011. Since 2011 more than a third of criminal legal aid solicitors have left the profession and a third of firms have closed.”

According to Bonich, Labour did not consult the CLSA or other solicitor representative groups before suggesting the overnight courts.

Some also criticise the cheek of Sir Keir to expect further sacrifices from lawyers and judges who have been vilified and attacked by the former Conservative government.

Indeed, violent threats against immigration lawyers over the past few days show the real-world dangers of the anti-lawyer attitudes prevalent in the UK.

Abimbola Johnson, a barrister at Doughty Street Chambers, says: “They [criminal lawyers] felt very deliberately undermined by the previous government. But now in the time of crisis, it’s the lawyers who are asked to come and sweep up the mess.

“You’re going to see a lot of black and brown lawyers who potentially could have been the exact people that were attacked by the clients that they are going to be representing … It relies on us as lawyers setting aside our own characteristics to fiercely represent our clients.”

Some are hopeful that the justice system’s ongoing role in restoring order will be rewarded with gratitude and even investment, especially as many charged rioters rely on legal aid to cover their court costs.

Sailesh Mehta, a criminal barrister at Red Lion Chambers, is sceptical.

“We have been at this precipice of hope many times before. I don’t think it will happen,” he says. “The Government has other priorities, including doctors and nurses. From the public point of view, the criminal bar and criminal solicitors will be the last in the line to receive their adequate wage.”

A spokesman from the Judicial Office said: “There are contingency measures in place across the criminal justice system, to handle any unexpected and exceptional increases in demand on the magistrates’ courts.

“This includes additional sittings of courts during regular hours which is happening now. At present no emergency protocols have been activated and this remains under review.”

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said introducing overnight courts is a decision ultimately made by the independent judiciary and local police forces.