Two years ago London Magistrates' Courts Defence SPOC adopted a magistrates’ court pre-court briefing guide to be used by all legal advisers, in all courts, to provide consistency of approach for legal advisers, judiciary and key stakeholders.

You can find the guide here.  pre-court-briefing-guide.pdf

The Criminal Court Improvement Group is concerned that in some places this has fallen into misuse, or variations have developed.  Whether or not any or all of the parties and/or legal adviser/court associate are appearing via CVP, pre-court briefings are integral to effectively progress the work of the courtroom and mitigate any potential risk of unlawful detention or release in error.

The magistrates’ court pre-court briefing guide should be used by all court takers to provide a consistent approach across all of courts nationally.

So, forthwith:

• By 9.30am legal advisers/court associates must be present in the courtroom to engage in a pre-court discussion with the CPS (or other prosecutor as applicable), probation, YOT (where applicable) and any solicitors available. The attached guide outlines what should be covered in this discussion.
• By 9.45am (or a time agreed between the legal advisers/court associates and judiciary on the day) a judicial briefing must commence following the guide.

Due to the importance of these briefings and their impact on reducing adjournments, thus easing pressure on lists and improving the speed with which cases are concluded, this guide has been shared with magistrates, district judges and our stakeholders so that they are reminded of the expectations. CPS, Probation and other agencies (L&D, escort service) have committed locally to advise their staff that they must be present for these discussions in the courtroom at 9.30am as they, too, recognise the importance of these conversations.  For example, probation colleagues report that some opportunities to drastically reduce the time a hearing might take on the day have been lost, as well as the possibility of providing an on the day report.

We realise you cannot do this alone, so if you encounter any issues with partnership engagement at these conversations please contact your Legal Team Manager.

You can see an example of a pre-court briefing in action here:  https://vimeo.com/1009825333?fl=pl&fe=sh (7 minutes).

Survey

With a view to full adoption of pre-court briefings the Criminal Court Improvement Group will be sending round a survey shortly to check where we are and how much needs to be done.