Trinity Silk and current Chair of the Criminal Bar Association(CBA) , Caroline Goodwin Q.C. is featured in The Times discussing how COVID - 19 has exposed pre-existing issues across the Criminal Justice system.
In her article dated 28th May 2020, Caroline Goodwin Q.C., who is also a sitting Crown Court Recorder, states:
"It can take a catastrophe for people to come together and help to get a system back on its feet. the resumption of a limited number of new crown court trials in a few carefully planned, sanitised and safe court buildings, provides hard evidence that, where there is a collective will to change, great improvements can be made."
In her role as CBA Chair, Caroline Goodwin Q.C. has visited various Courts, including The Old Bailey, to see the implementation of the changes brought in to deal with the implications of the Coronavirus, concluding:
"After a gallop around the country to visit the key jury courts, I have optimism about how we are adjusting to the “new normal”. However, that optimism is tinged with a deep regret that it took the dramatic halt of jury trials in March for us to reach this point."
As a reminder that the the Criminal Justice system already faced significant challenges before the pandemic, Caroline Goodwin Q.C. adds:
"The catastrophe facing the criminal justice system had been there for months, if not years, before Covid-19 struck. By January last year it was staring down the barrel of collapse. Urgent funding was required for police, prosecutors, legal-aid solicitors, barristers, the courts and parole service...Now it is time for the Treasury to fund the repair, then the delivery of the world-class criminal justice system we all deserve. A failure to invest will cause our economic and societal recovery to falter."
The full article is available to The Times subscribers here.