Court closure puts pressue on justice system – police commissioner

THE CLOSURE of Wakefield Magistrates Court has put pressure on the criminal justice system as victims wait longer for cases to be heard, West Yorkshire’s police and crime commissioner (PCC) has suggested.

The courthouse, in Cliff Parade, shut in September 2016 despite opposition. Victims, witnesses and defendants from Wakefield have been forced to travel to Leeds for hearings and trials ever since.

Now figures show that the average waiting time for a case to be resolved by magistrates in the region has risen to nearly 46 days.

This marks an increase of more than a week and a half from the previous year (2016/17).

Writing in a draft report that will go before the West Yorkshire PCC panel meeting on Friday, Mark Burns-Williamson said that funding cuts were affecting the justice system.

He added that the closures of Calderdale magistrates’ and county courts, which both shut in 2016, had also had an impact.

He said: “The courts are experiencing a period of unprecedented change, with reductions in staff numbers and the implementation of new digital administration systems. We can expect some fluctuation in performance as a result of these changes, but ultimately, new technologies should bring new efficiencies to the way our criminal justice system operates.

“However, court closures in Wakefield and Halifax (along with severe pressures in prisons and probation services) are impacting on the overall state of our criminal justice system.”

In 2015, Wakefield Council voted unanimously against the court’s closure with then-cabinet member Graham Stokes branding the decision “outrageous”.