In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, over half of all courts were closed for face-to-face hearings. The workload was reduced, with only the most urgent cases being prioritised, and other cases being adjourned. Steps are now being taken to open courts when it is possible to ensure social distancing, and more work is therefore being undertaken.
However, there is now a substantial backlog of cases that needs to be worked through, so several proposals are being considered to reduce this.
These proposals focus on increasing the number of cases that can be dealt with by courts by extending the hours they are open, using alternative venues that make social distancing easier or looking at alternatives to jury trials.
Our survey
To inform our positions on the proposals, we surveyed our members:
- A small majority of respondents would be willing to sit in early mornings on weekdays (62 per cent), late evenings on weekdays (55 per cent) and all day on Saturdays (55 per cent). Only 37 per cent would be willing to sit on Sundays.
- A clear majority of respondents would be happy for alternative venues to be used for the jurisdictions in which they sit (79 per cent in adult, 92 per cent in family and 81 per cent in youth).
- An even higher proportion of adult magistrates would be willing to sit with a crown court judge to hear either-way cases (91 per cent if they were involved in all decisions, and only 60 per cent if they were not involved in sentencing).
Read a summary of our data (PDF) and a breakdown of responses by jurisdiction (PDF).
The results of the survey have been shared with the Ministry of Justice, HM Courts and Tribunals Service, the Youth Justice Board and the Extended Operating Hours in the Criminal Courts Working Group.
The survey was also covered in a Law Society Gazette article on Robert Buckland’s proposals to reduce the court backlog, with a comment from John Bache reiterating the willingness of magistrates to adapt current working practices to help address the backlog.
