Emergency courts planned to tackle lockdown backlog

Ten emergency courts – including two former courts that were recently closed down by the government – have been identified to tackle the growing backlog of cases during the coronavirus pandemic.

The so-called “Nightingale courts” will hear non-custodial crime cases as well as tribunals, family and civil matters to ensure “the wheels of justice keep turning”, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said.

They will also create more space for existing courts to hear serious jury trials, which were temporarily paused as lockdown took effect and now require up to three courtrooms each due to social distancing guidelines.

The number of cases waiting to be heard in England and Wales has already rocketed to half a million, with 480,000 in magistrates’ courts and nearly 41,000 in crown courts.

However the backlog was already increasing before the lockdown due to court closures and a reduction in court sitting days to save money, according to lawyers, opposition MPs and the government’s own statistics.

Caroline Goodwin QC, chairwoman of the Criminal Bar Association, welcomed the 10 emergency courts as a “start” but criticised the “destructive slashing” of justice system budgets before the pandemic.

She said 12,473 trials with fixed dates last year were “simply bumped due to cuts to court sitting days, while perfectly good court rooms were kept idle just to shave costs”.

“Now let’s get serious and open up 50 more buildings and focus on criminal trials,” Ms Goodwin added.

“Time is of the essence. Two months of delay getting these 10 on-stream just piles on the human suffering to get trials on that have already been delayed for between one and three years, impacting tens of thousands of those left waiting.”

The 10 emergency courts include two courts closed in 2018, the former county court at Telford, Shropshire, and the former magistrates’ court at Fleetwood, Lancashire. Half of all magistrates courts in England and Wales have closed since 2010.

Shadow justice secretary, David Lammy, said: “The government clearly does not recognise the scale of the crisis in our justice system. The backlog in criminal cases was in the tens of thousands before the pandemic began, coronavirus has only made an existing problem worse.

“The fact that several of the new ‘Nightingale’ courts are former courts which the government closed down exposes the cost of 10 years of cuts to the justice system. The government must do much more to ensure victims of crime are no longer denied justice because of delay.”

All 10 locations are due to start hearing cases by next month. The others are East Pallant House

in Chichester, Hertfordshire Development Centre in Stevenage, Swansea Council Chambers, Cloth Hall Court in Leeds, Middlesbrough Town Hall, Knights’ Chamber and Visitor Centre at Peterborough Cathedral, Prospero House in London and the Ministry of Justice building at 102 Petty France in Westminster.

Justice secretary Robert Buckland QC has said that clearing the lockdown backlog could continue into 2021.

He said of the new courts: “They will help boost capacity across our courts and tribunals – reducing delays and delivering speedier justice for victims.

“But we won’t stop there. Together with the judiciary, courts staff and legal sector, I am determined that we must pursue every available option to ensure our courts recover as quickly as possible.”