Transforming 'summary justice' through police-led prosecution and 'virtual courts': is 'procedural due process' being undermined?

The administration of ‘summary’ justice in the lower criminal courts in England and Wales is undergoing significant transformation. Broadly, this sits within the desire to create a modernised and more streamlined system. But, criminal justice scholars state ‘swift justice’ is not necessarily fair justice, and ‘procedural due process’ might be challenged by objectives of economics and speed. This paper centres on two areas of change - the expanded role of the police in prosecutorial decision-making, and the introduction of ‘virtual courts’ where accused defendants appear via video link from police stations to the criminal courts. It is argued these two alterations call into question fundamental principles of procedural due process.

This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced version of an article accepted for publication in British Journal of Criminology following peer review. The version of record Jenni Ward; Transforming ‘Summary Justice’ Through Police-led Prosecution and ‘Virtual Courts’: Is ‘Procedural Due Process’ Being Undermined?, The British Journal of Criminology, Volume 55, Issue 2, March 2015, Pages 341–358, is available online at: https://academic.oup.com/bjc/article/55/2/341/595012 and https://doi.org/10.1093/bjc/azu077.