I have spent a little pub time this week with a defence brief or two, a couple of clerks, and an HMCS management type.
The smart money is on:-
No changes to courthouses until after the election, and no money to spend afterwards. Consolidation of the 30-odd courts in London won't happen in fewer than 10-15 years, if ever.
Best Value Tendering will stay on the back burner for several years. A new Government, however skint, may not have the stomach to destroy the Legal Aid system.
Community Courts will wither on the vine; we all suspected that they didn't work, now research appears to prove it.
The trend to Justice-lite. with cautions and suchlike, will slow, as those in power realise the limitations of the approach, and the public realise that 'offences brought to justice' statistics are utterly bogus.
The political class will continue to refuse to acknowledge defeat in the 'War on Drugs' and drug use will continue to increase across all classes.
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