British lawmakers demand "economic crime tribunals" to deal with the backlog of fraud cases.

Members of the United Kingdom's parliament (MPs) have urged the British government to test specialised economic crime tribunals in order to combat financial crime.

According to The Telegraph, the Commons Justice Committee has advocated dedicated fraud courts to address the "epidemic" of scamming.

According to the Committee, just one out of every 700 reported frauds and scams is punished, leaving victims facing "considerable delays" of "several" years before they receive justice.

As a result, MPs emphasised the "compelling" case for establishing dedicated economic crime courts to deal with the backlog of fraud cases that are "not usually considered as a priority for listing."

The Committee also warned that while on bail, fraud suspects continued to defraud individuals.

The strategy has been approved by police chiefs and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

Damian Hinds, former security minister, told the Committee that the government was "quite keen to look at everything and anything."

The first specialised fraud court will be established in the City of London in 2026, but the Justice Committee proposed expanding them to other courts and, if successful, rolling them out countrywide.

According to the study, Steven Maloney, a professional fraud investigator, said the courts would "ensure justice was seen to be done in a more effective and expedient manner," adding that it would "increase victim confidence and engagement."

“It would also allow us to prosecute offenders in a timelier fashion which would restrict their ability to continue to commit offences whilst under investigation,” the committee added. 

Action Fraud, the UK's national reporting centre for fraud and cybercrime, was deemed unfit for purpose by the MPs.

It is predicted that just 7,609 suspected scammers were punished for fraud in the fiscal year ending September 2021, out of the 4.6 million fraud offences estimated by the Office for National Statistics each year.

Fraud accounts for 40% of all recorded crimes, although it receives only 2% of police money. Only 380 of the 20,000 new police officers planned by the government will be assigned to the investigation, accounting for less than 2% of the total.

According to the committee's recommendation, fraud should be classified as a strategic danger alongside terrorism, major crime, civil disorder, and cyberattacks.

MPs recommended making failure to prevent fraud a criminal offence, holding financial institutions and banks liable for scams performed on their systems.

A Government spokesman said: “Our upcoming Fraud Strategy will consider all possible tools required to go after fraudsters and protect those who are most vulnerable to these crimes.”

By fLEXI tEAM