Solicitors fear late-night and weekend Olympic courts could be the thin end of the wedge, writes MARK HENNESSY
JULIAN YOUNG was one of the solicitors involved in defending people accused of involvement in last August’s UK riots, when courts sat late into the night to cope with both the numbers and the public’s demand for action.
Young was not impressed: “Everything was rushed. Sentences were far too harsh. One person got six months for stealing a bottle of water. A bottle of water! Nobody should go to prison for stealing that,” he says.
Now there are plans to hold speedy trials of suspected minor offenders during the Olympic Games: “I don’t think we should depart from principles just because somebody wants to go and watch the 100m on TV.”
For London, however, it is a tale of two courts. Almost half of the city’s crown courts – which deal with serious offences – will begin to wind down operations from next Monday until after the games are over.
Just 75 of the 140 courts will sit during the 17 days of the Olympics, partly because many of them – the royal courts of justice, for example – are near expected congestion “choke points”, making it difficult for staff, witnesses and the accused to get to court.
However, magistrates’ courts – which deal with low-level crime such as muggings and pick-pocketing – may end up serving for longer hours, especially as such cases can be expected to rise during the games because of the number of people around.
The police, the crown prosecution service and the courts service have agreed a so-called “Olympics offence” list, which will target foreign visitors to ensure they are dealt with before the games end.
An “Olympics offence” is defined as a case where either the defendants or witnesses are spectators, event officials, athletes or Olympic staff, or where the offence has taken place at one of the dozens of Olympic venues.
“The Olympics pose some significant challenges for us. We will be dealing with cases as soon as possible, aware that victims and witnesses may be visitors and unable to assist in a prosecution case some months down the line,” said the crown prosecution service.
Depending on the demand, courts could sit late into the evenings or at the weekends. The most minor offences may be heard by magistrates sitting in community centres if there is a sharp rise in petty theft.
Solicitors are unimpressed. The Olympics is viewed as a Trojan horse coming on the back of two pilot runs in the evenings and on Saturdays in Cardiff and Durham: “The argument will be it was done last August, it was done now, so it should be that way always,” says Young.
Some magistrates already sit occasionally on Saturdays, but only to deal with remand hearings. UK justice secretary Kenneth Clarke wants full trials to take place, believing there is a public appetite for more convenient sitting hours.
“I suspect that there will be this dreadful rush to get convictions and to get people out of the country as quickly as possible. Nobody knows how court staff or interpreters are going to get to courts,” says Young.
“Meanwhile, crown courts, which deal with senior cases, are being reduced because everybody wants to go to the Olympics, while the people in jail want to have their cases heard. The administration of justice is far more important than this.”
Community centres, if they are needed, are “inappropriate”, Young adds. “The majesty of the legal system should be preserved, while people may want to spend their weekends with their families, rather than working in them or coming as witnesses.”