00:00It doesn't matter about me, what happened to me, the issue is to make sure that every
00:03person receives a fair trial and is seen to receive a fair trial as well.
00:07In London we're facing a crisis in terms of backlog in the Crown Courts, challenges with
00:12the Magistrates Courts as well.
00:14We need additional support in London.
00:15I can understand why to help with the backlog in London of the more complex cases, some
00:20of the simpler cases may be dealt elsewhere with their free capacity.
00:24My experience as both a lawyer, somebody who is a parliamentarian and served as a Shadow
00:28Justice Secretary, but also as the Mayor of London, is there are two women who are criminalised
00:34who should not be.
00:35There are too many women who are in prison who should not be.
00:38I know that the Justice Secretary, and in particular the Justice Minister Sarah Sackman, are seized
00:43of this.
00:44It shouldn't be happening.
00:45And it's really important, in addition to Magistrates and Judges being more sensitive
00:50to these issues, but the whole justice system understands the unfairness that currently exists
00:56and I'm confident, with the current Prime Minister working with the Justice Secretary and the
01:02Justice Minister, they'll address this issue.
01:04Kahn was speaking at the launch of a £15.6 million safety fund for women and girls, and
01:11he said the convictions of domestic violence victims over unpaid bills shouldn't be happening.
01:17Lord Kahn unwittingly found himself at the centre of a single justice procedure scandal last week.
01:23When it emerged, he had been convicted and fined by a magistrate in Hereford for not taxing
01:30a Nissan Micra.
01:32The Mayor branded it a scam and the conviction was overturned.
01:36After it emerged, the Micra had apparently been fraudulently registered in his name.
01:41The issue opened up further scrutiny of the SJP system, which has been plagued by controversy
01:48in the last few years.
01:50Well, I can understand why the Ministry of Justice will want to fast track certain sorts
01:55of cases that are, in inverted commas, straightforward, to try and free up space for those cases that
02:00are a bit more complicated.
02:03But there are examples of errors being made, you know, misjustices happened.
02:08And that's why it's really important for the MOJ to look at this again.
02:14And it's really important to make sure that, you know, justice not just occurs, but it's seen to occur as
02:19well.
02:19And every time there's a bad case, it brings the system into disrepute.
02:23I think one of the things that I believe in is open justice.
02:26You know, justice must be done, but be seen to be done.
02:30That's what Article 6, the right to free trial is all about.
02:33And one of the things that the MOJ is going to look into is one of the adverse consequences
02:38of trying to speed up the administration of justice.
02:42If people have got confidence in the justice system, that leads to a breakdown in terms of the confidence
02:47in all of us as politicians and decision makers.
02:50That's why it is really important that the MOJ is looking into this issue and they want to get it
02:54right.
