Speeches by Sackman.

“I want to make it absolutely clear that accredited journalists continue—as they have throughout—to have access to court information that they need, directly from individual magistrates courts and tribunal services, via either the court and tribunal hearings service, which is a new digital system, or the gov.uk website.…”

“My hon. Friend has asked a very good question. It is vital for people to know what goes on in our courts, and local reporting of what happens there matters to wider society and, indeed, to our democracy. We recognise that Courtsdesk provided a useful service for journalists in collating information and presenting it in…”

“This Government inherited a criminal justice system on the brink of collapse, with record and rising backlogs now touching 80,000, and behind each and every one of those cases is a real victim. That is why we asked Sir Brian Leveson to undertake an independent review of criminal courts and why we are making investment …”

“As I have told the House repeatedly, we will publish the modelling and evidence base in the usual way, alongside the Bill’s introduction. However, it is simply incorrect to say there is no evidence that adjusting the threshold will reduce court delays; we have the evidence base of the independent review, as well as int…”

“I thank my hon. Friend for raising that case; it is a graphic illustration of the crisis that we are grappling with and the impact it is having. Those delays cause trauma, making it impossible for victims to move on with their lives. What are we doing about it? The fact that over 1,000 trials were cancelled last year b…”

“I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising that case, and I would of course be happy to meet him. Again, it is a graphic illustration of the ways in which the delays in the process are re-traumatising victims, which is why we must do everything in our power to bring down the delays—whether that is investment, modernis…”

“The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. The workforce has been depleted by repeated cuts to legal aid and people choosing more lucrative and attractive areas of work. What are we doing? We have said that we will invest an additional £34 million in legal aid for criminal advocates, and we are also providing match fundin…”

“Of course, that is one of the contributory factors to the issues in our courts, although not the only one—again, we must look at all these things. We await part 2 of Sir Brian Leveson’s report, but in the meantime I can assure the hon. Gentleman that the Prisons Minister and I are looking at these contracts so that we …”

“I thank my hon. Friend, who has spoken on a number of occasions about his horrific experience, and I think I speak for all in this House when I say that that takes a lot of courage. What he says about the impacts on people of delays in our courts and how knowledge of that is putting off people reporting or continuing w…”

“We will update the House when that is ready for implementation. The hon. Gentleman is right to highlight the importance of training when it comes to domestic abuse cases. Judicial training is an independent function run by the Judicial College. Domestic abuse training, and particularly a trauma-informed approach to evi…”

“The hon. Gentleman will know that justice is a devolved matter. I am content for him to write to me, and I will look into this specific case. However, justice is, of course, a devolved matter.”

“I am sorry to hear about the case the hon. Lady raises. County court rules require that possession claims be listed for hearing within eight weeks of receipt and, in the main, we are hitting that target. Readiness for the coming into force of the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 will be important, as will the modernising intro…”

“It is the case that trials are taking significantly longer. I appreciate that the point was made about where you take the starting point. Sir Brian Leveson’s insight is that trials are taking twice as long as they were taking in 2000. Even if one were to take the IfG’s assessment of a 50% increase, that in itself is si…”

“I do believe that. I believe in the idea that decisions about mode of trial should rest with the court, not the defendant, as is currently the case. These proposals, which are born out of the independent review of criminal courts led by Sir Brian Leveson, support that proposition, which we will bring forward in proposa…”

“I am trying to do the opposite. I do not think we should detach any one of these measures from the overall objective here, which is about building a criminal justice system fit for the 21st century. I say that because the last time any Government looked at reform of the criminal justice system in any significant way wa…”

“Critically—if you will allow me to finish one more sentence—it will also ensure that what we end up with is not just the backlog back down to sustainable levels, but being able to sustain that in the face of growing demand. The MOJ data shows that demand coming into the system is not only high but growing. There are mo…”

“I suppose there are two principles underlying that. One is how you proportionately allocate the limited resources within any justice system. We know that currently magistrates process and hear 90% of criminal cases. After the proposals, they will hear a good deal more, but it is about where you draw the line. We have h…”

“It will do all those things, Chair. It is important that it does, and it is important that Parliament gets the opportunity to scrutinise this. While I stand by the point that it is right that we rebalance the interests of justice when it comes to the determination of mode of trial—so that that rests with the court rath…”

“We will, as is usual practice, provide Parliament with the impact assessment, which will include modelling, and an equality impact assessment. It will include our formal response to Brian Leveson’s reports. As part of that, this Committee will no doubt be able to scrutinise what the Government are putting forward, and …”

“First, I have not seen the Institute for Government’s paper. I have huge respect for the Institute for Government, but I think what Cassia Rowland said was that, in her view, on her evidence—I have not seen what she has based it on—the savings that would be realised through the legislative reforms amount to 10% in term…”