The attorney general has put himself at odds with the justice secretary, Kenneth Clarke, by suggesting that increasing the sentencing powers of magistrates would make the court system more efficient.
Appearing before the justice select committee at Westminster, Dominic Grieve said consideration should be given to raising the maximum sentences that can be imposed by magistrates.
Early guilty pleas in magistrates courts cost the justice system, on average, �90 a case compared with �750 when similar hearings are referred to crown courts, Grieve said.
One possibility, he said, would be "to consider whether maximum sentences that can be imposed in the magistrates court can be raised".
The speed with which recent riot-related cases had been processed through magistrates courts had been "very educational", the attorney general said. Proceedings that might normally take two weeks had lasted 15 minutes, he added.
Grieve's views are in direct opposition to the aims of Clarke's legal aid, sentencing and punishment of offenders bill, one section of which (clause 71) repeals powers enabling magistrates to sentence those found guilty to up 12 months in prison for any single offence.
The powers, introduced in 2003, have never been implemented. By repealing them and ensuring that they can never be used, the Ministry of Justice is sending a clear message that it does not want magistrates filling up prison places. The current limit for magistrates sentencing on any single offence is six months.
The chairman of the Magistrates' Association, John Thornhill, has been lobbying hard against clause 71 and calling for magistrates to be given greater sentencing powers.
Last month, following the riots, he told the Guardian: "Many of these cases would have been dealt with more expeditiously and cheaper if we had the 12-month sentencing powers. They would not have needed to be sent to the crown courts."
Recently the Ministry of Justice said that increasing the sentencing powers of magistrates would be "unaffordable".
Asked outside the justice select committee about magistrates' sentencing powers, the attorney general said he had merely been pointing out the difference in cost between magistrates and crown courts. A spokesperson for the attorney general's office later added: "There's no conflict between the attorney general and the lord chancellor [Ken Clarke] over magistrates' powers."
Helen Goodman MP, Labour's shadow prison and probation minister, said: "I agree with the attorney general and I shall be pressing for an amendment to the legal aid, sentencing and punishment of offenders bill to do this [ie increase the powers to 12 months].
"The government seem to be at sixes and sevens and [they] ... should change the bill accordingly."
The attorney general had earlier told the justice committee that tough sentences for rioters had deterred others from joining in. "It was rather important to get the message out that these were very serious offences," he said.
The fact that sentences might be harsher than those normally given for the theft of a similarly valued item "doesn't mean to say the courts have got it wrong", he added.
"It's right that there isn't some special category of offence for rioting, there's no special pariah category," he said. "But equally it's fair to say that anyone who committed an offence during the riots [demonstrated] ? some aggravating factors.
"An ordinary shoplifting case does not destroy a community."
The Crown Prosecution Service has so far incurred �5m of additional costs in dealing with the aftermath of the riots, Grieve revealed.
The attorney general also said he believed allowing cameras into court would not interfere in justice, but that he would have reservations if the faces of those being sentenced were shown in case it "encouraged theatricals".
On government plans to give more information about conviction rates in local courts announced this week, Grieve agreed that public prosecutors might have to adopt a higher public profile in future if they had to answer questions on differences between courts.
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said later: "The criminal justice system responded very well to the recent disorder and the Ministry of Justice is determined to take on board any lessons which can be learnt from that experience."
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/2011/sep/07/attorney-general-ken-clarke-magistrates
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