Chris Grayling totally wrong on Criminal court fees

Chris Grayling was not a good Sec of State for Justice. He lost straight away when the Treasury back in 2010 imposed 25% cuts on the MOJ. His response was to ruin the Criminal Justice system in every way possible to save money demanded by the cuts (which he was a fan of).

He attacked from every angle, destroying criminal solicitors, criminal defence barristers, lowering the quality of the Crown Prosecution Service, messing with the probation service, undermining and underpaying court staff, undervaluing prison officers at court, ruining court translation, humiliating magistrates and taking away the independence of Judges by controlling their pensions AND the following two things.

1) Further incentivised defence lawyers to get their clients to plead guilty whether they are or not. You get more of a fee at Mags court for guilty plea than not guilty.

2) Added to encouraging defence lawyers to get their clients to plead guilty he has encouraged people to plead guilty themselves by making it even more expensive to dare to claim innocence. So at the lower end of the scale where the vast majority of crime is you now get a homeless man who stole £1 or so of food from a shop having to pay a £15 victim surcharge and £150 criminal court charge. Obviously he has no money and can't pay but the administration of that system will be a nightmare for all. Just stupid.

Below is an Extract from 5th August Guardian article:

"The criminal courts charge ranges from £150 for anyone who pleads guilty to a summary offence at a magistrates court, up to £1,000 for those convicted by magistrates after a trial of a more serious offence. In the crown court, the charge ranges from £900 for a guilty plea up to £1,200 for conviction after trial.

Because it costs far less to plead guilty than be convicted after a contested trial, some allege it creates a perverse incentive for the innocent to plead guilty rather than run the risk of failing to convince the court.

Examples of how the charge has worked in more than 30 low-value offences have been collected from local reports by the Howard League. They include:

• A 26-year-old homeless man who stole a can of Red Bull worth 99p from a supermarket in South Shields, Tyne and Wear, was given a conditional discharge and ordered to pay a £150 criminal courts charge and a £15 victim surcharge.

Details of the various fees can be found here.