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Customs sting
Page 10
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Armed gang raid Electronic link to courts
will speed up VI's cases
IN The Vehicle Inspectorate is promising swifter justice against hauliers who compromise road safety next year when its teams start using an electronic . link with the courts.
The system will link the VI to magistrates courts and the Crown Prosecution Service enabling it to lodge its prosecutions electronically instead of sending files through the post.
Jacky Fletton, VI manager of Prosecution Legal Services, says: Most of our delays in getting things to court are through lost files. The new system will improve reliability and will reduce the time it takes to lodge a prosecution from about 10 or 15 days to a daily turnaround."
The VI is required to lodge a prosecution with the courts within six months of an offence being detected. Flatton believes the faster communication will be important for large-scale VI investigations where it takes time to collate evidence. "Some cases run very close to the time limit,' she says.
The link will be introduced next July in Suffolk and is due to be rolled out throughout the UK by July 2002.