Leaky roofs, a heavy workload and reduced support staff are some of the many problems besieging district judges, the Lord Chief Justice has warned.
In a speech to the Association of District Judges annual conference last week, Lord Burnett of Maldon said ‘frank discussions’ with district judges over the past few months had ‘exposed common themes of what is wrong with our system’ as well as ‘the privilege that most of us feel in being judges’.
‘Your workload continues to grow and grow,’ he said.
‘Family law cases, for example, have seen double digit percentage increases year after year. The number of judges has not. And nor of course has pay.
‘As your workload has grown, the number of staff supporting you has shrunk. They and you are grappling with outdated paper-based systems.’
Judges were working in poorly maintained buildings, he said, due to ‘over a decade of under-investment in maintenance, amounting to neglect. I have seen for myself the leaking roofs, broken lifts, faltering or broken heating systems, overflowing lavatories and much more’.
He vowed to ‘continue to press our cause’ to the government for pay and pensions and investment in the estate.
In the meantime, all salaried judges will be given an opportunity to have a career discussion with a leadership judge, rolling out an initiative that took place in Wales last year. The senior judiciary is currently investigating ways to introduce greater opportunities for district judges to train and develop their skills. And while recruitment of fee-paid judges has slowed down, the Judicial Appointments Commission is now seeking to recruit a further 303 deputy district judges, with another competition for salaried district judges to follow.
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