Tristan Kirk
Evening Standard
The SJP system – a fast-track courts process that operates behind-closed-doors – has existed in the shadows for years, with millions of people prosecuted and criminalised with no public scrutiny at all.
Tristan’s investigative work for the London Evening Standard has brought to light cases of dementia patients being prosecuted by the DVLA over unpaid car bills, hospital patients including cancer sufferers receiving criminal convictions because their TV licence lapsed while they received treatment, and people with mental health problems, chronic vulnerabilities, and learning difficulties facing legal proceedings with almost no support.
Tristan’s reporting has shone a light on the heartbreaking letters from defendants in peril, which illustrate their anguish at facing criminal proceedings and their fears for their futures. It has exposed deep flaws running through the Single Justice Procedure itself.
It has been revealed that prosecuting bodies like TV Licensing choose to put cases through the fast-track SJP courts instead of open court, knowing that the public interest in pursuing the prosecutions will not be monitored and injustices will inevitably follow.
Caoilfhionn Gallagher, KC, a barrister with Doughty Street Chambers, said at the launch of the 27th edition of McNae’s Essential Law for: “I would like to pay particular tribute to the superb work done by Standard courts correspondent Tristan. His work on conveyor belt justice and the single justice procedure has been groundbreaking.” Tristan has utilised the power of social media, alongside traditional written news reports and multi-media packages, to heap pressure on the judiciary, justice officials, and politicians to deliver change.
Magistrates themselves have conceded the system is broken and in need of reform, the public is now agitating for action, and senior MPs across political lines as well as the Lady Chief Justice have pledged to investigate the concerns. Tristan was instrumental in rule changes in the Single Justice Procedure which allowed journalists to access case documents. He has doggedly used those rules to expose the wrongs buried within the system.
Children, parents, and businesses were being prosecuted unlawfully in the SJP system, and convictions have been overturned as a result of Tristan’s reporting.
Similarly, some 75,000 convictions in unlawful prosecutions brought by rail companies are now set to be overturned thanks to Tristan’s work.
The Ministry of Justice, which had previously celebrated the SJP system when it existed in darkness, is now contemplating major reform to stop the injustices that Tristan continues to expose. Tristan has established a reputation as not just a leading court reporter but as a campaigning voice for open justice and the right of everyone – press and public – to know what is happening in our courts.