Jacqui Durkin

Ms Durkin said clear objectives coupled with governance and accountability mechanisms at every level were needed to tackle delay within the criminal justice system and to improve outcomes for victims, witnesses and defendants.

“The foundations of a fair and effective criminal justice system are quality police investigations, robust prosecutorial decisions and effective disclosure,” she said.

“Getting this right can reduce delay and ensure a more efficient use of resources throughout the criminal justice system to deliver better outcomes for victims and witnesses.

“The swifter conclusion of court cases can mean convicted defendants can feel the consequences of their offending behaviour sooner and criminal justice organisations can meaningfully engage with them earlier to prevent further offending.”

Ms Durkin made the comments following the publication of an inspection report focusing on developments since Criminal Justice Inspection Northern Ireland’s 2015 inspection of file quality, disclosure and case progression.

The review of 100 police and 100 prosecution case files revealed the quality of criminal case files being prepared to be poor.

Ms Durkin said: “In the police file review, inspectors found 54 per cent of Crown Court files did not meet or only partially met the file build standards, with this figure falling to 44 per cent in the Magistrates’ Court files we examined.

“When looking at the PPS files, 41 per cent of Magistrates’ Court and 54 per cent of Crown Court cases did not meet or only partially met the required standard.”

The chief inspector said improvements in key areas needed to be delivered by both organisations.