Retired judges to cut court backlog

A ‘DAD’S Army’ of 65 retired judges has been mobilised to slash the record courts backlog of 63,000 cases.

Half of the returning judges are in their 70s, but the Ministry of Justice has been forced to tackle a crisis that has left crime victims waiting up to two years for justice.

The mandatory retirement age for judges rose from 70 to 75 in March and a new law came into effect last month letting retired judges apply to return to work.

They will be paid a fee per case in line with the equivalent pre-retirement sum, the MoJ confirmed. Officials hope to cut the backlog – which almost doubled during the pandemic when courts closed – by 10,000 cases by March 2025 and Lord Chief Justice Lord Burnett authorised the judges’ return as part of a package of measures.