McCrea comments on Access to Justice Review
Lagan Valley MLA, Basil McCrea, has commented on the Access to Justice Review which was released today following a statement from the Justice Minister.
The Ulster Unionist Justice Spokesperson said;
‘This Access to Justice Review is extremely important for Northern Ireland as it is imperative that we ensure that an equitable criminal justice system is in place which is accessible to all. One of the issues raised in the Review is the use of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) to settle cases without going to court. This is an area which I am keen for the Minister to drive forward due to the fact that it has the potential to facilitate fair outcomes, keep the costs imposed on individuals at a minimum and reduce the heavy burden of cases currently going through the Courts.
The issue of the right to elect for trial by jury was also raised in the statement by the Minister, with the review setting out that although this should remain the same as now, ways of keeping the incidence and costs of these cases within bounds are suggested. It must be remembered that trial by jury is a fundamental tenet of democracy and that we should be careful in tampering with it, however, I look forward to contributing to the debate in the Justice Committee on this issue.
Lastly, the report looks at the arrangements in place to facilitate and incentivise lawyers to advise on the merits of early pleas. Whilst this is an important area in ensuring that cases are not prolonged more than is necessary, I firmly believe that we need to look beyond the issue of simply finding efficiencies and also make sure that justice is being seen to be done by the public.”
Comments
Leave a Reply
