The Single Justice Procedure is a secretive courts process in operation in England and Wales. It deals with nearly 800,000 criminal cases each year. And it is broken. 

People with dementia, with learning difficulties, with mental health struggles, and dying from cancer are being harshly prosecuted over unpaid bills in a fast-track justice system.

Magistrates sometimes spend less than 60 seconds deciding whether to issue a criminal conviction.

Children, parents, and businesses have been unlawfully convicted.

Up to 75,000 fare evasion prosecutions have had to be scrapped because of train companies mis-using the Single Justice Procedure. 

And this may just be the tip of the iceberg. Magistrates themselves say the process is badly in need of an overhaul - they are rushed into decisions, are badly trained, and don't trust the system they themselves are working within. 

All Single Justice Procedure hearings take place behind-closed-doors, hidden away from the public and often beyond the reach of meaningful scrutiny from the media.

It is time for change. We call on the government to: 

• Launch an inquiry into the effectiveness and fairness of the Single Justice Procedure
• Introduce meaningful transparency, for the media and the public
• Improve training for court legal advisers and magistrates
• Ensure that all mitigation letters are seen by prosecutors before a case is heard by a magistrate
• Commit to regular monitoring of the system, with regular reports to MPs on successes, failings, and proposed improvements

People expect justice to be done fairly and in public. If the Single Justice Procedure cannot achieve this, it needs urgent reform. If changes cannot be made, the system should be scrapped.