NCJ Number
79406
Date Published
1981
Length
13 pages
Annotation
This memorandum from Great Britain's National Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders (NACRO) recommends issues to be addressed in a government working party's review of the factors affecting time spent awaiting trial or sentencing.
Abstract
The May Committee observed that 'remand periods in England and Wales are often excessively long and have generally been increasing.' Despite the effects of the 1976 Bail Act, which has resulted in a decline in the annual number remanded in custody from 68,388 in 1975 to 55,673 in 1979, the increase in remand periods has resulted in an increased average daily population of prisoners on remand, from 5,609 in 1975 to 6,132 in 1979. The Parliamentary All-Party Penal Affairs Group report entitled 'Too Many Prisoners' proposed that the Home Office and the Lord Chancellor's Office should establish a working party for the purpose of conducting a review of the factors affecting time spent awaiting trial or sentencing, with accompanying recommendations. In supporting this proposal, NACRO suggests that certain factors believed to contribute to excessive pretrial and presentencing detention be examined. These include the number of judges available to try cases, courtroom facilities, court staff, prosecution decisions, overloaded indictments, prosecution disclosure of evidence, court 'sitting' time, methods of transcribing evidence, case scheduling, committal proceedings, and time limits. Each of these factors and a few others are briefly analyzed to show their possible impact on pretrial and presentencing detention lengths.