Failing courts face spotlight

Lord Falconer also plans to get tough on lawyers who 'stall' cases

Courts that fail to perform well are to be named and shamed by the new Lord Chancellor in an attempt to raise standards.

Lord Falconer announced on Monday he will publish a league table of the 42 local criminal justice areas in England and Wales in October.

This will give data on a court's performance and how efficient they were in getting cases heard.

The Lord Chancellor says that currently a third of all trials do not go ahead as scheduled.

One person on the case

Under the new pilot scheme - to be launched in seven regions - it is his aim to improve the statistics so that by the end of the year, seven out of 10 trials will take place at the specified time.

The Crown Prosecution Service, the court, the police and the defence, will appoint one person to organise each case.

They will liaise with a case progression officer who will be assigned to each court to ensure the hearings take place on time.

There will also be changes to the way defence lawyers are paid by legal aid, the Lord Chancellor stated.

The current system, which the Lord Chancellor says encourages lawyers to use stalling tactics, will be replaced by one that penalises solicitors and barristers who drag their heels.