Government Considers Radical Plans to Alleviate Court Backlog

The Government is considering radical plans to alleviate the current backlog of criminal cases.

Appearing in person before the House of Commons Justice Committee on Tuesday the Lord Chancellor, The Rt. Hon. Robert Buckland QC MP, confirmed that the backlog of cases awaiting completion at the Magistrates' Court now stands at 483,687, which is an increase of 77,067 (19 percent) since immediately prior to the coronavirus lockdown.

The backlog of cases awaiting completion at the Crown Court now stands at 40,526, which is an increase of 1,312 (3 percent) since immediately prior to the coronavirus lockdown.

He explained that the Ministry of Justice was currently exploring ways to maximise capacity by adapting courtrooms, extending sitting hours, sitting additional days and utilising alternative venues for some types of work. Despite his personal reluctance to make changes to jury trials, it was an option that was available if extra capacity was still required.

Addressing the Committee, Mr Buckland said: "I am absolutely duty-bound to look at measures that deliver the capacity we need. Two-thirds capacity isn't going to cut it - I am going to need at least 100 percent capacity not just to manage the case load but to get ahead of it as well."

Mr Buckland said that there were two options on the table: Reducing the jury size from twelve to seven members, which would increase capacity by up to 10 percent; or trials overseen by a Judge and two Magistrates, which would increase capacity by 40 percent. His preference was for the first of these options as it preserves the principle of a jury trial. He acknowledged that there might be limited circumstances where a trial could be overseen by a Judge and two Magistrates.

For these measures to have the desired impact they would need to be in place by September. Contrary to reports in the media, Mr Buckland claims that the backlog could be cleared by Easter next year if the temporary measures work effectively.

Susan Acland-Hood, Chief Executive of Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service, giving evidence to the Committee remotely, confirmed that 19 Crown Courts have restarted trials using a range of measures to protect court users from coronavirus. In order to maintain adequate social distancing jurors are being spread out over multiple rooms, which is not sustainable. If trials continue to run on the same basis then it will not be possible to recover the backlog of cases, but instead it will grow even larger.

Amanda Pinto QC, Chair of the Bar Council, said: "This latest increase in the backlog of cases in our Crown and Magistrates' Courts is shameful, but not surprising, bearing in mind the lack of investment in the justice system over many years. When cases stack up this much, the impact on the public is a long wait, more concern and anxiety around the outcome of their cases, with victims and witnesses on both sides disengaging - even from a strong case - reducing the likelihood of a correct verdict. All parties can have a growing sense of injustice that something that directly affects them has been relegated to the bottom of the pile.

"Regrettably, the Government knew what the consequences of its drastic cuts could be when, for example, it closed 162 Magistrates' Courts out of 323 between 2010-2019 and when it reduced the number of Crown Courts sitting days by 16 percent in the last couple of years, despite reported crime increasing. While it is easy to use covid-19 as the scapegoat for the situation we are now in, the truth is that the pandemic has merely given our once-revered justice system an extra push along the dangerous slope it was already heading down, after years of neglect.

"This backlog needs to be tackled urgently, but in a way that does not undermine the credibility of justice offered by our time-tested jury system, with judgment delivered in serious cases by members of the public with a collective wealth of life experience. We need to see the government opening up more courts, allowing more judges to sit and expanding the buildings in which cases can be heard, using part-time judges and technology effectively before we even discuss tampering with constitutional and established methods of determining justice in serious criminal cases. Until the government invests in this way the criminal cases backlogs will remain."

You can view the full Justice Select Committee evidence session in the video below:

Earlier this week the former President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, The Rt. Hon. The Baroness Hale of Richmond, suggested the introduction of similar contingency plans in an effort to clear the backlog of cases in the criminal courts.