Asked by: Jonathan Hinder (Labour - Pendle and Clitheroe)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the barriers to achieving the swift delivery of legal papers.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Government recognises that the swift delivery of legal papers is fundamental to due process and in ensuring effective access to justice and procedural fairness.
In most circumstances, court procedure rules allow for the immediate service of documents by electronic means, such as email or uploading helping us to drive efficiencies through new technology. The Civil Auto File Share, for example, enables call handlers to access electronic court files in real time and provide informed responses instantly.
However, where other methods are used, manual administrative processes, incorrect contact information, and postal service delays can cause failure or delay in service. Our broader court reforms aim to tackle these kinds of inefficiencies. We are pulling every lever at our disposal – record financial investment, pragmatic structural reform, and a programme of efficiencies – to tackle the Crown Court backlog, reduce delays for victims, and modernise our criminal courts.
We are committed to building an efficient and dynamic system that is fit for the future.
Asked by: Jonathan Hinder (Labour - Pendle and Clitheroe)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to reform the probate system.
Answered by Catherine Atkinson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
A well-functioning probate system is essential to providing certainty for bereaved families and supporting the timely administration of estates.
The Government is continuing to modernise the probate service to improve efficiency and accessibility. This includes the digitisation of probate applications, enhancements to case management systems and wider operational improvements to support quicker and more reliable processing. The President of the Family Division has established a working group to look at the Non-Contentious Probate Rules 1987 with a view to identifying improvements.
HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) has improved processing times, with the majority of applications now completed within published service standards. Where cases take longer, this is often due to the complexity of the estate or the need for further information from personal representatives. The Government keeps the operation of the service under regular review to ensure it continues to meet users’ needs.