Courts: Coronavirus

(asked on 22nd June 2020) - View Source

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to tackle the backlog of cases in Magistrates’ Courts and Crown Courts as the covid-19 lockdown restrictions are eased.


Answered by
Chris Philp Portrait
Chris Philp
Minister of State (Home Office)
This question was answered on 30th June 2020

COVID-19 has been an unprecedented challenge for the criminal justice system, but we have kept courts open and cases flowing through the system throughout. The UK has been a global leader and we are ahead of comparable systems, keeping our system open and functioning throughout COVID-19. The most time-critical hearings have continued to take place in the Magistrates’ Courts, including hearings where the defendant is in custody or there is a risk to the public, as well as dealing with applications to extend custody time limits.

In the Crown Court, whilst jury trials were paused we kept the system moving, disposing of over 5,000 cases. Jury trials were restarted on 18 May, and by mid-July all courts will have reopened. This has all been enabled through significantly increased use of technology, with over 6,500 cases heard remotely, and with close collaboration and joint working with partners and stakeholders across the criminal justice system.

There is more we need to do and HMCTS are pursuing an ambitious plan to continue to increase capacity, including increasing the use of video and audio enabled justice via a national rollout of Cloud Video Platform (CVP), expanded opening hours, and exploring ways to gain additional court capacity. This will all be set out in more detail in a Courts Recovery Plan which will be published soon.

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