Despite there being a legal framework in place that is intended to ensure that people who are detained are brought to trial as soon as possible, in practice a large proportion of the remand population is held beyond the custody time limit of six months. We are very concerned by the recent figures showing that 770 prisoners have been held in custodial remand for over two years. The Government should review the legal framework for custody time limits to determine whether it is effective in ensu...

Despite there being a legal framework in place that is intended to ensure that people who are detained are brought to trial as soon as possible, in practice a large proportion of the remand population is held beyond the custody time limit of six months. We are very concerned by the recent figures showing that 770 prisoners have been held in custodial remand for over two years. The Government should review the legal framework for custody time limits to determine whether it is effective in ensuring that defendants are not deprived of their liberty for longer than is reasonable. It should be standard practice that custody time limits are strictl Type: recommendation | Number: 8 | Paragraph: 49 | Response status: accepted Government response: We accept this recommendation in principle. The Ministry of Justice currently publishes court remand data within the Criminal Justice Statistics, however, source information on reasons for remand is not readily available in a way that would enable t