3 Virtual Poverty? What Happens When Criminal Trials Go Online?
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Linda Mulcahy
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has created extensive problems for the criminal justice system and those who become embroiled with it. The lockdown in 2020 resulted in numerous courts having to shut down (see also Gill, Chapter 2). Trials in those that remained open needed more space to comply with social distancing measures with the result that the number of trials that courthouses were capable of accommodating reduced significantly. By June 2020, the backlog of Crown Court trials stood at 41,000, and it was recently announced that some criminal trials are now being postponed until 2023. Additional backlogs and delays are continuing to build up by the hour and will undoubtedly rise to an intolerable level if too much court business is adjourned.
Problems with organizing hearings is only the tip of an iceberg. Ten thousand people, or 11 per cent of the prison population are remanded in custody awaiting trial (65 per cent) or waiting to be sentenced (35 per cent). This means that the majority of those waiting for justice have not even been convicted of the crime with which they are charged. The situation will undoubtedly lead to an increased sense of uncertainty and intense stress for accused persons and their families at a time when public health officials are already concerned about the nation’s mental health. The fact that prisons and remand centres are often located at a distance from prisoners’ homes and that many of them are not accepting visitors during the pandemic will leave those on remand feeling even more isolated than usual. There has rarely been such strong evidence that justice delayed is justice denied.
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has created extensive problems for the criminal justice system and those who become embroiled with it. The lockdown in 2020 resulted in numerous courts having to shut down (see also Gill, Chapter 2). Trials in those that remained open needed more space to comply with social distancing measures with the result that the number of trials that courthouses were capable of accommodating reduced significantly. By June 2020, the backlog of Crown Court trials stood at 41,000, and it was recently announced that some criminal trials are now being postponed until 2023. Additional backlogs and delays are continuing to build up by the hour and will undoubtedly rise to an intolerable level if too much court business is adjourned.
Problems with organizing hearings is only the tip of an iceberg. Ten thousand people, or 11 per cent of the prison population are remanded in custody awaiting trial (65 per cent) or waiting to be sentenced (35 per cent). This means that the majority of those waiting for justice have not even been convicted of the crime with which they are charged. The situation will undoubtedly lead to an increased sense of uncertainty and intense stress for accused persons and their families at a time when public health officials are already concerned about the nation’s mental health. The fact that prisons and remand centres are often located at a distance from prisoners’ homes and that many of them are not accepting visitors during the pandemic will leave those on remand feeling even more isolated than usual. There has rarely been such strong evidence that justice delayed is justice denied.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Front Matter i
- Contents vii
- List of Figures and Tables ix
- Notes on Contributors xi
- Preface xiii
- Series Editor’s Preface xv
- Introduction 1
-
Justice
- Ruling the Pandemic 15
- Remote Justice and Vulnerable Litigants: The Case of Asylum 27
- Virtual Poverty? What Happens When Criminal Trials Go Online? 41
- Genera-Relational Justice in the COVID-19 Recovery Period: Children in the Criminal Justice System 53
- Racism as Legal Pandemic: Thoughts on Critical Legal Pedagogies 65
- Rights and Solidarity during COVID-19 79
- COVID-19 PPE Extremely Urgent Procurement in England: A Cautionary Tale for an Overheating Public Governance 93
-
The Social
- Accountability for Health and the NHS under COVID-19: The ‘Left behind’ and the Rule of Law in Post-Brexit UK 107
- COVID-19 in Adult Social Care: Futures, Funding and Fairness 119
- Housing, Homelessness and COVID-19 131
- Education, Austerity and the COVID-19 Generation 143
- What Have We Learned about the Corporate Sector in COVID-19? 155
- Social Security under and after COVID-19 171
- Maintaining the Divide: Labour Law and COVID-19 187
- From Loss to (Capital) Gains: Reflections on Tax and Spending in the Pandemic Aftermath 199
- Index 209
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Front Matter i
- Contents vii
- List of Figures and Tables ix
- Notes on Contributors xi
- Preface xiii
- Series Editor’s Preface xv
- Introduction 1
-
Justice
- Ruling the Pandemic 15
- Remote Justice and Vulnerable Litigants: The Case of Asylum 27
- Virtual Poverty? What Happens When Criminal Trials Go Online? 41
- Genera-Relational Justice in the COVID-19 Recovery Period: Children in the Criminal Justice System 53
- Racism as Legal Pandemic: Thoughts on Critical Legal Pedagogies 65
- Rights and Solidarity during COVID-19 79
- COVID-19 PPE Extremely Urgent Procurement in England: A Cautionary Tale for an Overheating Public Governance 93
-
The Social
- Accountability for Health and the NHS under COVID-19: The ‘Left behind’ and the Rule of Law in Post-Brexit UK 107
- COVID-19 in Adult Social Care: Futures, Funding and Fairness 119
- Housing, Homelessness and COVID-19 131
- Education, Austerity and the COVID-19 Generation 143
- What Have We Learned about the Corporate Sector in COVID-19? 155
- Social Security under and after COVID-19 171
- Maintaining the Divide: Labour Law and COVID-19 187
- From Loss to (Capital) Gains: Reflections on Tax and Spending in the Pandemic Aftermath 199
- Index 209
