This seems to be a generational thing, younger people at the CPS seem to prefer sending endless emails to speaking to a police officer, for instance. You can see why cases drag on. I hope Mr Parkinson has made a good call.
Not worth the paper it’s written on,
How do you mean, Corona? I don’t disagree with the idea myself, short-circuiting the process. I hadn’t realised that was part of why things get bogged down at the CPS.
Yes it might bog it down but likewise a freedom of information request would come back pretty blank, doctored or not at all. When I was briefly a Civil servant we were instructed to be very careful what we wrote in emails etc as they could be subject to a FOI and that could be serious. This the CPS could do what is not in the public interest and never be held to account. We need to protect our freedoms to inspect any Gov documents or findings.
The trouble with phone calls is A; Lack of accountability, as what was said can so easily be denied, and B; An assumption that the person being called is actually available at that particular time to answer the call.
Much better to send a concise and accurate e-mail which can be responded to at a time when the recipient is available to reply.
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Could they record calls though? I think the article also mentioned following up the call with an email confirming what was said.
I would have thought, given the nature of the beast, more time would be lost playing at telephone tag trying to track down a police officer on the phone.
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Surely in these modern times, an automatic transcriion of a call could be recorded and even sent as an email as confmation.
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Have you seen the mess the justice system is in at the moment? Where’s the money coming from?
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My MT does exactly that with a virtual assistant writing notes, Doctolib makes me aware of it before my consultations with him.
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In some situations a 'phone call would be great, but not in the example Libby Purves gave (a “fact” was missing in a submission: that is always going to need to be in writing, of course, because that relates to a matter on which a decision is being made).
Talking over a case, discussing lines of enquiry, explaining what’s needed or why the case is never going to reach court are all things which require spoken contact (which builds trust between police and CPS), and I suspect it’s these calls which CPS lawyers (or support staff, more likely) are being encouraged to make.