Crown Court Committee Meeting: 25th September 2014

Action points

Item / Action Point(s) / To Action: / Comments
1.  Third Party Disclosure / It was noted that some of the disclosure material sent through to the Judges has previously been sent to the PSNI – could this not be d/w in primary disclosure / Glenn Irwin to mention to regional prosecutors / New procedures in place – seem to be running well.
2.  Indictments / Changes to legislation should be actioned via additional charges added to the BOI. Court staff can only change particulars of the offence. / PPS / Best that any proposed changes are confirmed before arraignment or the jury is put in charge and the outstanding charges d/w appropriately whether LOB or another disposal.
It was noted that BOI issues have reduced in the last few months.
3.  Particularisation of sexual offences / This should be done routinely by the PPS for the defence. Recorder suggested he could draw up a pro-forma to be used setting out specimen counts etc / Recorder / Suggestion that this should be done as early as possible by the directing officer when the decision is being made
4.  PSRs for Breach hearings / Breach reports not being received by solicitors pre-court. New procedure in place for the receipt of PSRs electronically for NICTS to issue to defence and PPS. Defence copies are collected in advance at the public counter, and are not provided by the court clerk. / Paul Dougan to provide specific case details / This may have been an isolated incident which may have resolved itself as the new procedures rolled out
5.  Secure emails for solicitor firms / Small uptake for the CJSM amongst firms despite information being circulated via the Law Society. / Paul Dougan to advise NICTS what documents solicitors would like using the secure email method / Fax is no longer a secure method
6.  Crown court bail protocol / Administrative bails rolled out to regional courts. This worked well over the summer recess period. / NFA / Procedure working well
7.  Advance notice of PII hearings required / OLCJ request 3-5 days’ notice or at least 24hrs notice to ensure security cleared staff and necessary recording equipment is made available for these hearings. / PPS/Judiciary / PPS/Judiciary to advise NICTS management in advance to organise staff/equipment and to make any arrangements for secure delivery of documents to the assigned judge etc
8.  Confidential papers left in courts / Recent sweep of Crown Courts revealed DVDs, family files, PSRs, ongoing trial papers left in courts overnight. Spot checks will continue and items found will be removed. / NICTS – Defence and PPS / Courtrooms are not secure due to non-court personnel accessing them –it was suggested that a is clearly displayed stating that all paperwork should be cleared at the end of each day.
It was mentioned that this information has been sent to practitioners on numerous occasions
AOB
Jury meals / Hot meals no longer being provided for sitting juries – this has already been rolled out over a number of months in the regional courts and was introduced in Laganside this term / Live issue being addressed by NICTS Contracts Branch, reporting back to Treacy J
Fitness to plead / Recorder expressed concern that no-one is driving these and the 6 week target is being regularly missed – he has been meeting with Maria O’Kane to agree ownership between PBNI and the Trusts. A protocol was mentioned. LCJ may remove these cases from the statistics. / Recorder
Case overviews / Recorder set out new process, he will review all cases and decide whether or not this form should issue – only 3 cases so far - / Recorder / It was pointed out that the timescale for counsel to get these overviews ready is very short to get them in by the ARR date. Suggested that Hart J’s approach of allowing 4 weeks post-ARR could be adopted.
Attendees / Judge McFarland Recorder of Belfast
Judge Miller QC
Judge Ramsey QC
Judge Smyth
Charles MacCreanor QC
David Russell BL
Paul Dougan Solicitor
Glenn Irwin PPS
Frances Carlisle PPS
Debbie McKee NICTS
Karen McMaster NICTS (note-taker)