The Budget is a waste of time if it doesn’t fix our creaking justice system
It’s that time of year again. The economists are hanging out their stockings, the civil servants are putting the finishing touches on their Excel spreadsheets, and hard-working people are bracing themselves for the worst – which can only mean that it’s budget season.
After Rachel Reeves finishes her remarks at the despatch box, the headlines will rightly be dominated by Labour’s plans to increase capital gains tax, and impose VAT on independent schools. Yet, amongst the tax rises and spending cuts, spare a thought for our justice system, that oft-neglected, all-important responsibility of the state.
For years now, the justice system has been an easy target for Treasury raids, with courts and prisons both neglected in favour of big fiscal obligations such as the NHS, social care, and pensions. It shouldn’t surprise us that our courts are now reaching breaking point, with prison capacity reaching near-zero in large parts of the country.
And this budget looks set to be no different. Despite the justice system’s inability to handle its current caseload, there have been no indications that Rachel Reeves intends to give our justice system the resources that it needs to function.
The result is predictable – slower processing of cases, more early prisoner releases, and lighter sentences. At every turn, Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood’s response to the ongoing criminal justice crisis has been to administer less justice, shortening sentences and refusing to increase the number of sitting days for courts. A few pounds saved here and there, perhaps – but crime has long-term costs for businesses, individuals, and the country which the Treasury is failing to account for.
But it isn’t just criminal justice that the British state is now failing to administer; the civil court system is just as overwhelmed.
Last year, civil courts received 1.7 million claims, with the total cost of running HM Courts and Tribunals Service rising to £2.3 billion. In almost all civil and family cases, waiting times were longer than five years ago. In real terms, that means slower resolution of contract disputes, slower settlement of childcare arrangements for divorced couples, and slower compensation for those who have suffered medical malpractice.
And to add insult to injury, as Adam Smith Institute research last week highlighted, class action cases are flooding into our courts in ever-greater numbers, damaging business confidence in the UK while bunging up our courts. Many of these cases have little-to-no link to the UK and yet, inexplicably, the cases are heard in UK courts, with taxpayers footing the bill and sending ordinary Britons to the back of the queue.
Just last week, the UK’s biggest ever class action case began its journey through our beleaguered courts, with Pogust Goodhead and Gramercy leading a case against Australian mining firm BHP – despite the fact that the case concerned an incident which took place in Brazil. What’s more, BHP has now settled with the Brazilian authorities, with a compensation agreement worth £24.4 billion – much of which will be accessible to claimants in-country.
And yet UK taxpayers are still financing the case’s lengthy proceedings, while many people here in Britain have had their own cases delayed, sometimes for months. Is it any wonder that public trust in our justice system is collapsing?
It’s time for the Government to get its priorities straight. The fair and consistent administration of justice is one of the most important duties of any state, second only to the defence of the realm. Plainly, the British state is now falling to live up to that responsibility – cutting investment with one hand, while squandering vast resources on foreign cases with the other.
If Starmer and Reeves were serious about getting to grips with this issue, they would give the justice system the tools that it needs – but somehow, I’m not holding my breath.