Justice system remains deep down in crisis due to the coronavirus pandemic. The system is long away from recovering the backlogs and also prisoners are spending 22.5 hours a day in cells.
As the famous proverb goes by “justice delayed is justice denied”. The justice system of England has been in the grip of crisis. And the government plans to cram down thousand more people into prison. This is an absurd plan and also the law and order system has completely failed. This absurd chain of law and justice was very well depicted in Franz Kafka’s “The Trial”. Where Joseph K. is being accused without any reason and tried for no evidence. Same the law and justice system of the 21st century seems to be in greater crisis. Justice is hanger means that the whole system is in hanger and utter existentialist crisis.
The report says that, prisons of England and Wales have still not recovered from the crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and that the justice system is operating at “unacceptable levels”. Government lacks the coordinated plan to deal with the crisis, and also no action is being taken to reduce the backlogs. Prisoners are being locked in their cells form 22.5 hours a day, hundreds of hours a day of unpaid probation work is not completed.
According to report there has been 340 percent increase in case load due to pandemic in a year. And all the cases are delayed since March 2020. Even though, the system has returned to its usual business but there is exhaustion within the workforce. Mr. Neilson commented that, ” this report not only lay bare the criminal justice system but it makes clear the madness of government policy, which projected to increase prison population”. The size of prison population had increased 20% within five years.
Expanding the prison population at this time, seems a challenge faced by the failing system making crimes more. Only a fundamental review between the courts and custody is going to allow the criminal justice system to stabilize itself and move forward in the most effective and humane way possible.
This report opens naked the fallacy of the idea of criminal justice system. This system has become absurd and far away from ‘normal’ or ‘anything close to it’. The outcome of the prisoners is the same endless days spent behind a cell door, with all the disastrous consequences for both health and public protection that the report sets out. Thus major reform are needed to save the crisis slipping into a major problem.