Court cap lifted to clear backlog
A funding cap on how many days judges can sit for hearings will be lifted in a bid to tackle the backlog of cases in crown courts.
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) is removing the limit on sitting days for the 2021/22 financial year as part of efforts to clear the thousands of outstanding criminal cases waiting to be dealt with.
The crown court backlog stood at around 40,000 in March last year but has been exacerbated by delays and court closures amid the coronavirus pandemic. It has since reached about 57,000, with some trials now being listed for 2023.
Last month, a report by the MoJ said the proportion of criminal cases waiting more than a year to be dealt with by crown courts in England and Wales had “increased markedly” amid the pandemic.
A spokesman for the MoJ said: “We are not setting a limit on the amount of sitting days allocated to the crown courts for the next financial year.
“This is part of a wider effort to maximise use of space and judicial capacity across the justice system. This will enable them to hold safely as many hearings as possible over the coming year as we continue to respond to and recover from the pandemic.”
The move could effectively see judges working more, particularly spending more time in court presiding over more cases, in addition to their other duties like preparing rulings and dealing with paperwork.
Most judges are not expected to earn more money as a result of the changes as the majority are paid a salary and a pay rise is not anticipated to be offered.