The Court of Appeal’s Criminal Division has published its tenth annual report, covering the period from October 2005 to September 2006.
Over that period the Court achieved an increase in the disposal of old cases, and a reduction in the backlog of work. Outstanding cases were reduced by 14.5%. Average waiting times for appeal cases fell to 7.8 months for appeals against conviction, and just 2.7 months for appeals against sentence.
This was despite the Court continuing to face increasingly complex cases, arising from new legislation, and new test cases.
Amongst the challenges were cases relating to new provisions from the Criminal Justice Act 2003, such as the introduction of ‘double jeopardy’ (where a defendant previously acquitted can be tried again for the same crime) and in dealing with defendants defined as ‘dangerous offenders’. The Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 introduced a whole new ground of appeal to the Court.
As usual, a number of the cases heard over the period generated prominent national media coverage, such as the Attorney General’s reference of an unduly lenient sentence in the case of R v French & Webster, in which a baby had been raped.
The Court continues to pursue new technology, and it is hoped that the video links in use for some appeals can be expanded, with permanent links with prisons established.
The Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, Lord Phillips, writing in the introduction to the report, paid tribute to Lord Justice Rose for his major contribution to the Court, of which he was Vice President before his retirement this year. He also lamented the sad loss of Mr Justice Poole and Mr Justice Hunt, who gave valuable support to the Court’s work before their untimely deaths.
Ends
