Pearse MacDermott gives evidence to the Justice Committee on the issue of Commital Reform

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-northern-ireland-politics-56013501?fbclid=IwAR2N6q3_6vZXI3oVsgliF-mnT9ZY4aifu1cK55jD8Iv8tl5aH1pMsrNMSPw

​Pearse McDermott opens the presentation for the Law Society.

He says it appears that the bill has two objectives:

• to abolish all physical evidence in court in advance of a trial
• to introduce direct transfers to the Crown Court in all indictable cases

Mr MacDermott says the bill will not have the desired effects of reducing delay in criminal cases, reduce costs and prevent witnesses having to give evidence more than once.

He explains the current committal procedure in the magistrates' court. Mr McDermott says this operates as "a very important filter" to remove weak or flawed cases. He says the main cause of delay in criminal cases is at the investigation stage and there is a myth that lawyers drag out cases to increase their fees but, in fact, there is a set fee.

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