‘Nightingale’ courts to tackle rising backlog of legal cases

UP TO 100 “Nightingale” courts could be created across England and Wales to help clear a backlog of cases that has increased by nearly a quarter during the pandemic.

The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) is planning to establish between 50 and 100 of the courts, which will be based in public buildings such as councils, lecture halls or leisure centres so that juries and staff can be spaced to meet social distancing requirements.

The first 10 sites will be announced before the parliamentary recess later this month and expanded to tackle a growing backlog of Crown Court cases after trials were halted in lockdown.

The number of outstanding Crown Court cases has risen from 39,214 before the outbreak to 41,599, while the magistrates’ backlog has grown from 407,129 to 510,559, a cumulative increase of 23.7 per cent, according to MOJ figures.

The “Nightingale” courts – echoing emergency Nightingale hospitals – will be used for “low-security, high-complexity and time-consuming” cases, according to sources, who also refer to them as Blackstone courts after Sir William Blackstone, the jurist and judge.

Because they will not have cells, they will not handle cases where the defendant has been remanded in custody for crimes such as murder, violence or sexual assaults.

Robert Buckland, the Justice Secretary, also plans to use evening and weekend courts and increased use of technology such as video links. Reducing juries from 12 to a minimum of seven members is also an option if the other measures fail to cut the backlog.

The Magistrates’ Association has backed longer hours but has also called for “radical” options including increasing magistrates’ sentencing powers from six months to a year’s jail so they could handle more cases that might otherwise be dealt with by Crown Courts.