Don't try to make us jail fewer criminals, judges tell Falconer

Lord Falconer, as head of the new Ministry of Justice, will become responsible on Wednesday for running the courts and prisons in England and Wales.

Senior judges fear that - in order to save cash and reduce prison overcrowding - they will be pressured to hand down inappropriately lenient sentences.

Lord Falconer was yesterday forced to deny that any such move was being planned.

Led by the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Phillips, the judges have demanded a series of safeguards to guarantee their independence.

In a statement to Parliament, seen by the Daily Mail, judges said they were in an "invidious" position.

They warned:

"What must be avoided, both in perception and reality, is a position whereby judicial decisionmaking is influenced or constrained by financial considerations."

With just two days until the new ministry comes into being, Lord Falconer has yet to strike a deal which will satisfy the judges.

Both the judiciary and Conservative MPs have demanded a delay while the issue is sorted out.

Talks between the two sides, which have been dragging on for weeks, are due to resume tomorrow.

But aides to Lord Falconer said that if no eleventh-hour deal is reached, he will force through the changes anyway.

That would leave judges facing the "nuclear option" of officially telling Parliament that the Lord Chancellor is in breach of his statutory duties to safeguard their independence.

It would be seen as a devastating vote of no confidence by judges in the Government's handling of the justice system.

Sources said the judges are aware they can "only do this once" and are desperate to avoid such a step.

The Shadow constitutional affairs spokesman Oliver Heald said: "We are on the road to a constitutional crisis.

"The Lord Chancellor is casting aside concerns about judicial independence in a desperate attempt to get this through before the Prime Minister announces his departure.

"Lord Falconer is effectively telling judges to like it or lump it. Major constitutional change should not be rushed to fit Tony Blair's timetable for departure."

The Ministry of Justice is being created by the splitting of the Home Office.

Responsibility for prisons and probation will pass to the Department for Constitutional Affairs, along with criminal justice policy.

The DCA - which is currently responsible for running the courts and legal aid, and overseeing the appointment of judges - will be renamed the Ministry of Justice.

Judges are calling for their budget to be ring-fenced as they fear the financial demands of the Prison Service will consume the limited resources available for the courts.

They also argue that they could come under pressure to lock up fewer offenders in order to take account of the scarcity of space in jails.

The prison population stood at 80,580 on Friday - only a few hundred spaces short of capacity.

A DCA spokesman said the judges had backed the new ministry "in principle" and discussions were continuing on "a few remaining issues".

She added: "The Ministry of Justice will take effect as planned next week."

The Mail revealed last week how Whitehall officials have drawn up secret plans to allow up to 3,500 convicts out of jail early to ease overcrowding in prisons.

This is intended to provide desperately-needed breathing space until new prisons open.

Such a move would cause political embarrassment for Lord Falconer - but he is expected to stay in office for just a few weeks before the job is given to an MP.

Almost 100 magistrates' courts have been closed since Labour came to power, the latest figures showed yesterday.

Over the last nine years 98 sites have been sold off or mothballed across England and Wales.