Key Facts

• New clause proposes increasing the maximum sentence reduc [5D [K reduction from one-third to two-fifths.
• It removes restrictions on early [5D [K early-stage guilty pleas for highest reductions.
• Allows defendants to re [2D [K receive reductions before a retrial.
• New clause 6 establishes fast-track RASSO court capacity. [9D [K capacity.
• New clause 23 requires a report on the Act's effect on rape an [2D [K and serious sexual offences within twelve months.
• New clause 25 sets up [K specialist sexual offences courts at each Crown Court location in England a [1D [K and Wales.
• The Labour manifesto committed to establishing specialist [10D [K specialist courts for rape and sexual offences.
• New clause 2 would requi [5D [K require the Lord Chancellor to build upon proven models at Liverpool and Pr [2D [K Preston Crown Courts.
• Current Government reforms will not take effect un [2D [K until 2028 or 2029.
• Government's Bill proposes removing jury trials for aroun [5D [K around half of all cases.
• A commitment to introduce specialist courts wa [2D [K was included in the Government’s manifesto.
• Opposition new clause 25 aim [3D [K aims to return to the original vision of establishing specialist courts for [3D [K for rape and serious sexual offences.
• The Institute for Government suggests judge-only trials m [1D [K might save only 1.5% to 2.5%.
• A study found that delays in rape cases a [1D [K are mostly due to investigation and charging stages, not court proceedings. [12D [K proceedings.
• Over 30 groups concerned with violence against women and gi [2D [K girls argue against removing juries.
• The Deputy Prime Minister considers [9D [K considers juries a success for delivering fair results.
• New clause 6 would fast-track rape and serious sexual off [3D [K offence cases.
• The Government's blitz courts will prioritise assaults on [2D [K on emergency workers in London and the south-east initially.
• As of Septe [5D [K September last year, 16% of cases in the backlog were sexual offences.
• T [1D [K The average duration for rape cases at Crown Court is 429 days compared to [K an average of 259 days for all offences.
• The Labour party manifesto pledged specialist courts for [K rape and domestic abuse.
• New clause 2 proposes trauma-informed proceedin [9D [K proceedings, fixed trial dates, and prioritised listings.
• There is a bac [3D [K backlog of over 80,000 cases across the criminal justice system.
• Full extent of the criminal justice crisis was not appare [6D [K apparent when the government came to power.
• Trauma-informed training is [K being rolled out for all court staff, not just judges.
• £6 million invest [6D [K investment in independent legal advisers for victims of rape.
• Over £500 [K million committed to victim support.
• Over 1,000 trials were ineffective last year due to missi [5D [K missing elements.
• The Government is investing in criminal legal aid and [K match funding for pupillages.
• An AI-driven listing tool is being piloted [7D [K piloted in Preston and Isleworth with positive results.
• Victims of rape [K face an average wait of over 400 days for trial.
• Trauma-informed trainin [7D [K training will be available to all court staff from spring.
• New clause 4 requires an independent report on the feasib [6D [K feasibility of two trials per day.
• The Lord Chancellor must publish a re [2D [K response within three months after laying the report.
• New clause 5 manda [5D [K mandates setting annual targets for reducing the Crown Court backlog in Eng [3D [K England and Wales.
• Clause 22 requires the Lord Chancellor to lay a strategy [K before Parliament within 12 months of the Act's passing.
• The Secretary o [1D [K of State must report on progress made against the strategy at intervals no [K more than 24 months apart.
• Clause 32 mandates an independent review into [4D [K into racial disproportionality arising from changes in magistrates' courts [K and trial-allocation provisions before Clauses 1 to 7 can be implemented.
• Amendments to clause 26 would delay the commencement of s [1D [K sections 1 to 7 of the Bill until certain conditions are met.
• The condit [6D [K conditions include independent reviews, increased Crown Court capacity, fun [3D [K funding for sitting days, and consultations on extended hours.
• Section ( [1D [K (3A) requires the Lord Chancellor to publish a response to the Independent [K Review of Criminal Courts before clauses can be implemented.
• New clause 3 proposes doubling court sitting time by sche [4D [K scheduling two trials per day.
• Trials in select courtrooms would run fro [3D [K from 9 am to 1 pm and 2 pm to 6 pm.
• During the coronavirus pilot, two-tr [6D [K two-trial days achieved 3.5 trials per week compared with fewer than 0.9 un [2D [K under standard hours.
• Court hearing time has dropped to an average of 3. [2D [K 3.2 hours on paper from 10 am to 4.30 pm.
• Amendment 59 seeks to increase Crown court sitting days t [1D [K to 130,000.
• Productivity in the Crown court has fallen by approximately [K 20% over less than a decade.
• There were 713 ineffective trials in 2023 d [1D [K due to prisoner transport delays.
• Blizzards courts in Preston and Liverp [6D [K Liverpool have reduced backlogs significantly.
• The NHS uses weekend hitl [4D [K hitlists as part of its elective recovery strategy.
• The system currently has significantly less access to jur [3D [K jury rights than before.
• There is a proposed path towards operational ex [2D [K excellence and better resourcing as an alternative to reducing jury rights. [7D [K rights.
• Proposed changes could result in a 1.5% efficiency gain accordin [8D [K according to Government calculations.
• Government funding for unlimited Crown court sitting days [4D [K days in the new financial year.
• Target of 130,000 sitting days as mentio [6D [K mentioned in Sir Brian Leveson’s review.
• Current prediction of achieving [9D [K achieving 117,000 to 118,000 sitting days next year.
• Pilots showed limit [5D [K limited gains from extending hours alone.