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On 18 June 2002 the Prime Minister made a speech in which he set
out his priorities for the criminal justice system in advance of the
publication of a White Paper on the topic, due to be published in July
2002. The current system was criticised as being slow, cumbersome
often unable to convict the guilty, and often unable to provide
protection for victims and witnesses.
Mr Blair set out six key components of the government’s forward
plan for the reform of the criminal justice system.
Tackling causes - the best defence against crime is
stronger families and a stronger sense of personal responsibility Cracking down on anti-social behaviour - police will have
new powers to tackle low-level disorder with fixed penalty fines,
introduction of Community Support Officers and bans on street
drinking, piloted from this April Drugs - arrest referral workers are in every police custody
suite; drug
abstinence community sentences are ensuring that offenders
stay off drugs. Organised crime - the Proceeds
of Crime Bill, currently going through Parliament, will give
law enforcement agencies important new powers, and the Asset
Recovery Agency will enable the seizure of the assets of known
criminals Reform of the criminal justice system - a forthcoming White
Paper will be based upon the root and branch review
of the criminal justice system undertaken by Lord Justice Auld
and Halliday
review of sentencing policy. Police reducing crime - for the rebalancing of the criminal
justice system to work, those professionals in it would have to be
helped to do their job better and the government intends to delegate
more power to Chief Superintendents at Basic Command Unit level.
His message was reinforced by the Home Secretary when speaking at the
Metropolitan Police Conference on Modernising the Criminal Justice the
next day. Mr Blunkett made it clear that he felt the system had swung
too far in favour of the accused and reaffirmed the government's
commitment to put victims and public protection at the heart of the
criminal justice system reform, while balancing the need to safeguard
the rights of defendants.
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