About two-thirds of remand inmates have not yet been brought to trial. The remaining defendants await sentencing. According to activists, lawyer and court staff strikes will further exacerbate the backlog.
Hundreds of people across the United Kingdom spend years in prison before even being tried.
As the legal system tries to deal with a massive backlog of court cases, the numbers continue to rise.
People suspected of crimes who are denied bail are placed on remand, which means they are detained in jail until their trial.
This may occur for a variety of reasons, but typically because a judge deems someone dangerous or a flight risk.
Six months is the maximum period a person should be held in remand.
Under Freedom of Information legislation, 1,244 individuals have spent more than a year on remand.
219 individuals have been incarcerated for more than two years, while 314 are waiting for sentences of three years or more.
Since last year, the number of individuals spending more than two years on remand has increased by 12%.
They resemble William, Louise Feeney’s spouse. William, who is accused of drug charges he denies, has cancer.
He underwent a significant operation recently, but he had to undergo it in jail. By the time of his trial in 2023, he will have spent over two years in prison.
Louise stated, “I have both good and bad days. It’s like living with loss; we’re perpetually in limbo. It’s devastating. Two birthdays have been missed for the children.
“Death is more manageable than confinement. It feels like being sentenced to prison without a trial.”
Approximately two-thirds of prisoners on remand have not yet been tried.
And Ministry of Justice records indicates that almost one in five individuals on remand do not receive a jail sentence.
There is a potential that an increasing number of innocent people are spending years in prison for crimes they did not commit, while one in ten is cleared of all charges.
Penelope Gibbs, director of the nonprofit organization Transform Justice, stated, “I’m worried the situation is worse daily.
“This is partly because of the current lawyer strike. We are about to experience a strike of important court personnel and legal advisors, and we also have a shortage of attorneys, judges, and courtrooms.
“There are numerous tasks that must be completed. To begin with, we should be considerably more judicious in our use of this pretrial detention system.”
Judges have the authority to prolong remand periods beyond the maximum of six months.
The closure of courtrooms during the pandemic has dramatically exacerbated delays in court cases, which appears to be making this more prevalent.
A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Justice stated, “Independent judges make decisions on bail applications to protect the public.” Following the enormous impact of the pandemic, they have prioritized remand cases.
The present backlog of court cases is about 59,000. This is a decrease from the post-pandemic peak of 61,000, but the numbers are on the rise once more.
Barristers are now on strike in protest of wages and working conditions, citing the system’s inability to keep up.
The government warns that a strike will merely exacerbate existing delays and concerns.
