Walker, Charlotte and Colman, Stephen (2026) The Single Justice Procedure: A Challenge to Open Justice. In: Jones, Richard, (ed.) Journalism and the UK Courts. Routledge (In Press)

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Abstract

This chapter examines the Single Justice Procedure (SJP) and its implications for open justice and the role of journalists in reporting proceedings and holding the State to account. The SJP was introduced to reduce delays and save resources by speeding up the prosecution of minor offences. These reforms allowed cases to be determined by one magistrate reviewing the papers without a formal court hearing. However, the SJP largely operates outside of the public eye, raising significant concerns about transparency. This chapter explores how the SJP departs from traditional open court practices, particularly in relation to its reliance on written evidence and the lack of public hearings. It gives specific attention to the work of journalist Tristan Kirk who has highlighted the opaque nature of the SJP, and brought it into the public consciousness. Despite the decline in physical court reporting, it is argued that journalistic scrutiny is essential to maintaining public confidence in the criminal justice system as well as monitoring the conduct of magistrates’ court practitioners. It is, therefore, important that journalists remain vigilant for such reforms of the criminal justice system and continue to expose potential injustices, so they do not go unnoticed.

Item Type:	Book Section
Status:	In Press
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) K Law > K Law (General)
School/Department:	School of Humanities
URI:	https://ray.yorksj.ac.uk/id/eprint/15558

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