Launched in 2015, the SJP allows cases such as speeding and littering to be decided by a single magistrate behind closed doors. The majority of criminal prosecutions (780,383 in 2024) and two-thirds of magistrates’ court cases are SJPs.
In a report published this week, ‘Industrial scale prosecution?’, however, Transform Justice outlined several flaws with the system, including that prosecution forms are sent out weeks or months after the incident, SJP prosecutors often have little or no legal training, and many people are convicted without knowing they have been charged. The charity points out no account is taken of ill health, disability or vulnerability during the prosecution process.
It warns: ‘We are prosecuting people at an industrial scale often without any evidence they intended to commit a crime, and with few safeguards.’
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