Lines that should not be crossed

摘要

The Court of Appeal has sent out a clear warning to lawyers and their clients that courts will not tolerate failure to meet deadlines and to comply with the Criminal Procedure Rules (CPR). Giving the lead judgment in R v Boardman [2015] EWCA Crim 175, Sir Brian Leveson (who chaired the Phone Hacking Inquiry), quoted from his own recent report Review of Efficiency in Criminal Proceedings: "It can not be right that a 'culture of failure' has developed in the courts, fed by the expectation that deadlines will not be met. If a deadline is not met, there must be good reason for it... A failure to tackle this culture leads to a general indifference to rule compliance."