Over‐Efficiency in the Lower Criminal Courts: Understanding a Key Problem and How to Fix It

In this monograph, Yates troubles the assumption that speedier court disposals are better, or preferable, for court users.i Drawing from his observations in one English magistrates’ court, Yates raises important questions about how justice ought to be done, and what values need to be balanced in its achievement. Efficiency, he suggests, is one of many. Others with which it must be balanced include proportionality, democratic representation, dignity, effective participation and verdict accuracy (p.6). When efficiency supersedes these, courts become ‘over-efficient’. This is a promising lens through which to analyse judicial reform; Yates is to be commended on the theoretical exposition of this lens, and the historical and political context he provides around the ascendancy of efficiency as a reform goal under neoliberal UK governments (Chapter 2).