Court will remain open
Chichester is one of a number of courts to be kept open for another year.
‘Nightingale Courts’ across England and Wales are being keptopenforanotheryeartoreduce waiting times and deliver swift justice for victims.
A total of 24 temporary courtrooms, which were set up to boost capacity during the pandemic, will remain open in 2023 to allow more cases to be heard.
Two Crown court rooms in the former Crown Court building will remain open.
The Government is investing£477millionovernextthree yearstotackletheCrownCourt backlog which significantly increasedbecauseofthepandemic.Thisincludesallowingcourts to run at full capacity, doubling thesentencingpowersofMagistrates,andrecruitingevenmore judges.
The number of cases in the backlogfellbyalmost800cases in the last two months of 2022, afterbarristersendedstrikeaction.
Deputyprimeminister,lord chancellor and secretary of state for justice, Dominic Raab, said: “We are determined to provide the swift justice that victims deserve, and Nightingale courts have a vital role to play as our justice system continues to recover from the unprecedented impact of the pandemic and last year’s strike action. The Crown Court backlog is now falling once again, and the continued use of these courtrooms will help to drive it down even further.”
Nightingale courts were introduced in during the pandemic in 2020 when buildings such as sports arenas, hotels, and conference centres were rapidlytransformedintocourtroomstoprovidemorespacefor jurytrialsinlinewithsocialdistancing restrictions. Following their success, the use of temporarycourtroomshascontinued to provide additional capacity.
Today’s announcement marks the third year of the use ofNightingalecourtsandcomes alongside a raft of measures implemented by the Ministry of Justice to tackle the backlog court cases.
Last year, the Government lifted the cap on the number of days courts can sit to help them run at maximum capacity, and doubled Magistrates’ sentencing powers so they can hear more cases, freeing up an estimated1,700extradaysofCrown Court time each year.