Justice delayed
People who need to claim money via the courts face a severe backlog
DELAYS at small claims courts are still well above pre-pandemic levels - with claimants having to wait nearly a year on average for their case to go to trial. The Law Society of England and Wales warns the hold-ups - and planned hikes to court fees - risk people being put off pursuing claims and losing faith in the justice system.
People can go to a civil court to make a “small claim” - generally up to £10,000 - against a person or business that owes them money.
This could be to compensate the claimant for a faulty product or service, or because a tenant’s landlord has failed to make a repair at their property.
But hearings that took place between April and June across England and Wales took an average of 49.2 weeks to go to trial, the latest Ministry of Justice figures show.
That was 12.6 weeks longer than the average time during the same period in 2019, before the pandemic - when cases took an average of 36.6 weeks to reach a hearing.
However, it was a marginal improvement on an average of 51.5 weeks between January and March.
Overall, there were 9,413 small claim trials in the three months to June this year, down from 11,174 during the same three months of 2019.
For larger types of claims going through the civil court of more than £10,000 - known as fast- and multi-track claims - waiting times also increased.
The average time between these claims being issued and reaching trial was 71.1 weeks in the three months to June, up from 59.0 weeks two years earlier.
The MOJ recently announced that it was going ahead with planned increases to court fees, despite opposition to the proposals.
A hearing fee for a small claim of more than £3,000 is set to rise from £335 to £346, while the fee for a “multi-track” case - generally exceeding £25,000 - is set to increase from £1,090 to £1,175.
I. Stephanie Boyce, president of the Law Society, said delays in civil justice pre-dated the pandemic and were already worsening due to “chronic” under-funding.
Ms Boyce said Covid-19 had only made matters worse as technology in county courts is less developed than in family or criminal courtrooms, making them even less adaptable.
She said: “There is a risk that people may be put off pursuing claims because of the length of time it takes to see a claim through and the increase in fees.
“There is a longer-term risk to society if the belief becomes widespread that there is little chance of people effectively enforcing their rights.
“Faith in the justice system could diminish and there is little incentive for more unscrupulous people to comply with their legal obligations, which is highly damaging to the rule of law.
“Better access to early advice, including through legal aid, would help more people resolve their problems without needing to resort to the courts.
“We would like to see urgent government action on this front.”
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “The impact of the pandemic is being tackled head-on by investing millions to deliver speedier justice, prioritising urgent cases and opening extra courtrooms so cases can be heard as quickly as possible.
“We are already seeing positive results and are close to returning to pre-pandemic levels.”