‘Fundamental reset’ needed within police and prosecution service tackle delays in justice system

Jacqui Durkin has called for improvements within the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) and the Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland (PPS) to “improve the quality of prosecution files and speed of case progression”.

Ms Durkin said clear objectives coupled with governance and accountability mechanisms at every level were needed to tackle delay within the criminal justice system and to improve outcomes for victims, witnesses and defendants.

“The foundations of a fair and effective criminal justice system are quality police investigations, robust prosecutorial decisions and effective disclosure,” said Ms Durkin.

“Getting this right can reduce delay and ensure a more efficient use of resources throughout the criminal justice system to deliver better outcomes for victims and witnesses.

“The swifter conclusion of court cases can mean convicted defendants can feel the consequences of their offending behaviour sooner and criminal justice organisations can meaningfully engage with them earlier to prevent further offending.”.

An inspection report published on Monday (June 5) focused on developments since Criminal Justice Inspection Northern Ireland’s 2015 inspection of file quality, disclosure and case progression.

“We found that despite agreed quality standards being set for the preparation of prosecution files by the PSNI and PPS as part of the Working Together project, a review of 100 police and 100 prosecution case files revealed the quality of criminal case files being prepared to be poor,” said Ms Durkin.

“In the police file review, inspectors found 54 per cent of Crown Court files did not meet or only partially met the file build standards, with this figure falling to 44 per cent in the magistrates’ court files we examined.

“When looking at the PPS files, 41 per cent of magistrates’ court and 54 per cent of Crown Court cases did not meet or only partially met the required standard.”.

The Chief Inspector said improvements in key areas needed to be delivered by both organisations.

“For the PSNI following lines of enquiry is a fundamental part of any investigation. Our examination of magistrates’ court files found that police needed to improve in this area.

“We also found police case files were taking too long to prepare with more than three out of 10 Magistrates’ and Crown Court files not progressed in a timely way.”

There were also issues around the level of supervision applied by police supervisors to ensure both the quality and timely progression of case files identified by Inspectors.

Only 56 per cent of magistrates’ court cases reviewed had appropriate levels of supervision recorded, although this figure improved to 71 per cent for Crown Court cases.

Police supervisors and officers also told inspectors of their concerns around the competing demands on their time, which meant they did not always have enough time to do everything expected of them.

Inspectors found that 96 per cent of the prosecution files examined during the PPS file review met the PPS Code for Prosecution standard and that the timing of decision-making was relatively good.

But further improvement was required around the keeping of notes and the proportionate recording of prosecutors’ decisions on case files.

Inspectors have also called for further action to improve the progression of cases at court as the file review revealed only one in three Crown Court cases were progressed appropriately.

The handling of disclosure, where material is provided that may assist the defence or undermine a prosecution case, was found to be poor in both the police and prosecution files examined.

“This inspection shows each organisation needs to focus on getting the basics right at each stage of case progression. Quality needs built in at every stage for each police officer and prosecutor involved in a case so better outcomes can be delivered for victims and witnesses,” said Ms Durkin.

“The PSNI and the PPS need to understand their respective organisational needs and deliver against them. They need to show a real commitment to partnership working and a team approach to file quality, disclosure and case progression.

“In this inspection we have made one new strategic and one operational recommendation to deliver improvement and repeated all recommendations made in our 2015 inspection report.

“We have called on the Criminal Justice Board to jointly agree a criminal justice system vision and strategy to improve quality and reduce delay at each stage of file preparation and disclosure within the next six months.

“This will require the PSNI and PPS to have an effective partnership to deliver performance improvement and accountability at every stage and support the Criminal Justice Board and judiciary to robustly monitor outcomes.

“Clear targets should be introduced that are reflected in the Corporate and Business Plan priorities of each organisation to address the issues evidenced in this report along with a Case Progression Commitment document for Northern Ireland, to set quality standards and meaningfully monitor system performance and agree improvements to support case progression.”

Ms Durkin said Inspectors had also recommended the PSNI provides a programme of enhanced training and ongoing support and supervision as part of new quality assurance measures to tackle quality and delay within the organisation in the next six months.

“We have also urged the PSNI and PPS to jointly review all previous recommendations made in our 2015 inspection report and provide a joint action plan for their completion by the end of September 2023,” she added.

Responding to the report, PSNI Assistant Chief Constable Alan Todd said: “The PSNI is committed to working together with our criminal justice partners to improve performance.  We recognise, with victims and witnesses, the frustrations they have with the overall performance of the criminal justice system.

“Our results from HMICFRS (His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services) inspections show we have made significant improvements in the standard of our investigations and are working hard to enhance public confidence in the system.

“We welcome the inspection report and we will now work through the finer detail with our partners and discuss the content and the recommendations with the Inspectors.  We have had initial meetings with the Inspectors and look forward to having more conversations with them.

“Crime levels are increasing, more importantly the complexity of those crimes and therefore the complexity of investigations are increasing at a time the Police Service is under significant financial pressure but we are committed to working collaboratively to overcome challenges that contribute to delays in getting cases to court.”