During Justice questions in the House of Commons, James highlighted the importance of justice being seen to be done and called for defendants to be made to appear in court for their sentencing.
James has been troubled by recent murder cases where defendants have refused to come to court for their sentencing hearings. Instead, they hide away in their cells rather than face their victims and their families and hear the often-harrowing impact statements. This is effectively further abusing the victims and, in the House of Commons, I called on Ministry of Justice ministers to introduce changes to give judges the power to make them attend for murder, rape, and other serious cases.
Clearly, there may be instances where a defendant may be incredibly disruptive in court and I also urged the government to consider giving judges powers to increase custodial sentences in such circumstances. The government is now looking at potential changes including whether this should be an aggravating factor for consideration in sentencing.
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8. What plans he has to give Crown Court judges the power to require defendants held on remand to attend sentencing hearings in person. (900195)
James Cartlidge, Minister for Justice: The current position is that the courts can require that a defendant held on remand attends their sentence hearing, but they cannot force them to do so. Where a defendant is likely to be disruptive in court or where taking action to ensure that they attend would cause delays, it can be in the best interests of justice and victims to proceed in their absence. However, I fully appreciate that, in other circumstances, a defendant’s absence can cause anger and upset for victims and their families, and we are actively considering what can be done to address this.
James Wild: It is important for public confidence that justice is seen to be done. When defendants in murder, rape and other serious cases hide in their cells and fail to appear for sentencing, they are effectively abusing their victim and the victim’s family once again. So I welcome the work that my hon. Friend is doing on this issue. May I encourage him to look at giving judges the power to increase custodial sentences in such circumstances?
James Cartlidge: My hon. Friend makes a really important point: justice being seen to be done is a key principle of our case law system. I am sure we all agree that a defendant should be brought before the court to face the consequences of their crime. Of course, one case in particular comes to mind. Sabina Nessa’s family wanted Koci Selamaj to be present to hear their victim impact statement, so that they could convey the hurt that he caused. In that case, the sentencing judge referred to the defendant’s actions as “cowardly…refusals” to attend.
However, I have to stress that, although defendants can be punished for refusing a prison order to attend court, they cannot be forced to attend. As I say, it is important to recognise that, although the presence of the defendant may be a comfort to some victims, there will be circumstances in which a defendant’s behaviour is distressing to victims and their families. For that reason, we have to take a balanced approach but, as I say, we are looking at what can be done. One option could be to make it a statutory aggravating factor.
