The Bar Council has proposed a new Court Sitting Hours’ Protocol for all hearings in the High Court, county courts, Crown courts, magistrates’ courts and tribunals.
The protocol states a ‘general principle’ that no court or tribunal, including telephone and video link hearings, should sit before 10am or beyond 4.30pm.
It notes that a ‘tendency has developed’ to list cases increasingly early or late in the court day, particularly in the criminal and family courts. This creates obstacles for barristers with caring responsibilities, particularly women, it says.
According to the Bar Council, the protocol is not a direct response to the current late-night courts pilots, ‘Flexible Operating Hours’, currently taking place. However, it says the pilot ‘will run counter to our attempts to improve the retention of women at the Bar’.
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