As of the week ending 22 November, there were 479,489 outstanding cases in the magistrates’ courts and 53,318 in the Crown Court (from 53,138 in the previous week and 39,331 before the COVID-19 pandemic).
David Greene, president of the Law Society, said: ‘It is reassuring to see that the backlog in the magistrates’ courts is falling but it is clear that the need for additional court capacity to enable jury trials to take place safely is ever increasing.’
However, Greene said he opposed the use of extended operating hours.
‘We remain to be convinced that Covid operating hours have delivered any significant additional court capacity and continue to be concerned about the significant impact such extended hours have on court users, legal practitioners and how our justice system functions,’ he said.
‘We believe the additional resources it takes to run Covid operating hours should be used to open additional Nightingale Courts―which would increase court capacity and do much more to reduce the case backlogs.’
The HMCTS consultation on extended operating hours closed this week. Criminal Bar Association chair James Mulholland QC has described the plans as ‘the final nail in the coffin of a viable, independent Criminal Bar’.
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