Operation Early Dawn, an emergency measure that keeps defendants in police cells until a space in prison opens up, has been invoked twice this year in the UK due to prison cell shortages. In May, it was used when the number of available prison cells dropped to under 300. More worryingly, it was activated again due to the influx of arrests from the UK anti-immigration riots. The National Police Chiefs’ Council recently stated that between July 29 and August 16 they “have made a total of 1,117 arrests and identified hundreds more suspects in connection with the disorder.” In that time, the police and the CPS “have brought a total number of 677 charges.”
UK prisons, Jabed Ahmed for the Independent reports, “have been operating at critical levels for the last several years, often with under 1 per cent capacity.” The rioters are being processed very quickly through the courts but the courts have nowhere to put them. About 5,500 people are expected to be released before their sentence is up by October to make room for the new prisoners.
The UK justice system seems to be in very dire straights. Between a cell shortage tipped over its limit by rioters and an appalling remand time, the case turnover in prisons and courts risks grinding to a clunky halt without extreme intervention. The Independent released an article on February 10, 2024, titled “Criminals gaming the justice system as cases jammed for years in court backlog.” “The number of cases waiting more than three years for a verdict has skyrocketed at least sevenfold since 2019 to exceed 1,280 last June,” reports Andy Gregory for the Independent.
While the release of 5,500 prisoners is necessary, it will undoubtedly discourage public faith in the UK’s criminal justice system. A common theme of timeliness in criminal cases is that justice delivered speedily encourages public faith in the courts whereas delays, stays and early releases erode that faith. News coverage of delayed or stayed sexual assault trials (see: Sexual Assault Case Stayed for Delay After the Guilty Verdict) often report fears of judges, lawyers, or victims that it will discourage victims from reporting violent crime, and deter witnesses from testifying for fear of being trapped in an arduous trial. While victims of violent crime and sexual assault become discouraged from participating in the justice system, criminals may become emboldened to believe that delays in their case may result in avoiding any verdict. In enacting Operation Early Dawn, the Ministry of Justice has confirmed that “anyone who poses a risk to the public will not be bailed.” It is therefore unlikely that serious criminals will be leaving the prisons for rioters, but there is a lot of opportunity for public cynicism. It is unjust that a criminal should not serve out his whole sentence just because the prison system is having a difficult time with delay and turnover.
Operation Early Dawn is a temporary measure and serves as a highly unsatisfactory and necessary and temporary fix. The true problems with the UK justice system require a longer lasting a systemic solution.
