The minister overseeing justice reforms in the wake of last year's riots has hinted at a dilution of plans for courts to open at weekends, suggesting that enabling them to sit for longer working days would be more effective.
In an interview with the Guardian, Damian Green, the minister for policing and criminal justice, said opening magistrates courts on Saturdays and Sundays may be necessary on only a limited number of occasions.
His comments hint at a significant change of direction in government plans to shake up the criminal justice system.
Following the riots and the imposition of budget cuts, the Ministry of Justice launched a series of pilot programmes looking at how it could make the court system more flexible. Ministers were particularly impressed with the emergency late-night and weekend sittings organised by magistrates courts that rapidly processed the hundreds of suspects arrested during the disorder in summer 2011.
The resulting "swift and sure justice" white paper, unveiled in July, included plans to expand weekend court sittings. That aspect of the reforms, however, met with fierce criticism from solicitors who questioned how cost-effective it would be to require lawyers, police and prison officers as well as court staff to work every weekend. They also complained about lack of consultation.
Green, who took over the post in the September reshuffle, said that although the pilots are still being assessed, he was impressed by the need to exploit technology as well the possibilities opened up by early morning and evening sessions. "We are piloting Saturday and Sunday [courts] in some areas," he said. "There's no formal evaluation yet. It seems to me that it's likely that the most valuable flexibility will be at either end of the working day.
"That's been one of the problems. Courts sit for the central part of the working day [but] actually for a witness who works it may be more convenient if you can [attend] at 6pm rather than 4pm.
"If you are having to juggle prisoners to [get them to] court then actually if you can get them out of the door at eight in the morning, because the courts are sitting at eight in the morning, that might make the prison run a lot more efficiently. My instinct is that [such flexibility] is absolutely essential.
"But at certain times in certain areas you absolutely want weekend courts. That was the lesson of the riots. We know that for big events if you have a court on a Saturday morning or Sunday morning then it means that you are not affecting people by locking them up for the whole weekend. We are still in the pilot period. Let's look at the effectiveness of the pilots."
The expansion of video links between courts, police stations and prisons, Green believes, will have a significant impact. "The best example I have seen was in Cardiff, where the courts are opposite the prison. What used to happen for a two-minute hearing was that a secure van was taken to the prison, with two guards in it. The prisoner was put in that van. They literally drove across the road, put them in court, waited there until the case [finished] and then drive them back with all the attendant expense. Now [the prisoner] has the hearing in the prison [via video-link]. Repeat that across thousands of cases and you make colossal savings … We can have a lot more video links in police stations … so officers can give evidence from their notebooks and don't have to waste a whole shift [attending court]."
One of Green's priorities is developing neighbourhood justice, a range of initiatives which include restorative justice and neighbourhood justice panels. Both place victims of crime at the centre of the process, enabling offenders to meet them and apologise directly. "These are neither soft options nor kangaroo courts," he said.
In the restorative justice pilot programmes, Green claimed, there was an 85% satisfaction rate from victims who had been through the process. The early stages, he added, showed a 14% reduction in the frequency of reoffending.
"We have been doing this for a short amount of time and the early signs are very positive," he said. "The idea is to spread this across the country."
As many as 18,000 officers have received training in restorative justice techniques, £1.5m has been allocated, and prison staff will also be trained in the procedure.
Among the neighbourhood justice panels that exist in 15 pilot areas, there have been 37 hearings which by late November had dealt with 122 referrals by police officers or local authorities. The idea of these is to involve victims, perpetrators, and the local community.
"These are not meant to replace magistrates courts," Green said. "These are for offences that might otherwise be beneath the radar of the criminal justice system. It may be helpful for the panel if there's a magistrate there.
"The idea is that if you damage my neighbour's house you are damaging my community as well. 2013 will be the year when people become much more aware of the range of neighbourhood justice outcomes."
Green's arrest back in 2008, he believes, makes him a better and more "candid friend" of the police and the criminal justice system. "I have an unusual range of experiences for a police minister," he said. "I have seen the system from all sides. I have had my car stolen and been arrested. I think a candid friend is what they need at the moment." And, perhaps, partially appreciative: he did eventually get his car back.