Courts and Tribunals Observers’ Network

An investigation into “conveyor belt justice” by Tristan Kirk, courts reporter for The Standard, has won the 2024 Paul Foot Awards. This is an annual prize for investigative journalist set up by Private Eye in memory of its reporter, the late Paul Foot who died twenty years ago.

As Courts and Tribunals Observers’ Network member Paul Magrath originally noted on the ICLR blog (when Kirk was shortlisted):

Kirk has been relentless in his coverage of the controversial procedure by which a single magistrate, in a remote sitting, can convict long lists of defendants who have pleaded guilty by post or online (often without fully understanding the implications of doing so, or that they might have a defence) or have failed to respond to a notice within 21 days. It’s been boosted by the Ministry of Justice as “an accessible, proportionate, effective and more efficient way — for both the defendant and the courts — to hear less serious cases”, such as non payment of TV licence, transport fare evasion etc, but the procedure has been criticised for failing to give magistrates sufficient time to properly consider each case on its merits. In March 2024 the Magistrates’ Association issued a Position Statement criticising the process and recommending a number of improvements. It said

“there is a concern that prosecuting authorities may sometimes pursue cases that are not in the public interest, particularly when the defendant is vulnerable. This could mean that the pursuit of legal action is disproportionate or unjust given the circumstances.”

Kirk’s reporting has highlighted a number of examples of cases where a defendant was either vulnerable or might have had a good defence, or been treated more fairly, in a system that seem more concerned with rapid disposal than individual justice: in short, a “conveyor belt” approach. Listen to his interview on the Private Eye Page 94 Podcast.

See also: Transform Justice, It’s never too late to prevent miscarriages of justice