‘It is a matter of regret that resources have not been made available by government to begin to tackle the backlog of repairs and maintenance needed,’ he said, in his Lord Chief Justice’s Report 2019, published this week.
He said he had seen ‘first-hand the poor conditions in which both staff and judges work in many court centres and which have to be endured by members of the public’. Hearings were sometimes adjourned due to delays in getting reported problems fixed, he said. ‘Examples include flooding and IT and power outages. Physical problems can also create security breaches. Rural courts are often neglected at the expense of those in large cities and there is a general lack of funds for basic maintenance and repair which are often desperately needed.’
Lord Burnett said he was ‘continuing to press for funding to tackle the maintenance problems that must be addressed to bring our court buildings back into a decent condition. I am raising this with the government at every opportunity.’
He also addressed the need for more judges. While ten High Court judges were recommended for appointment in the year to April 2019, ‘we are not yet back to full strength’, he said. There was a ‘worrying shortfall in the recruitment of salaried members to the District Bench this year which will have adverse consequences for the family and civil jurisdictions’, and ‘there is a significant shortfall in the number of magistrates’ which affects the ‘efficient dispatch of business’.
Lord Burnett said magistrate recruitment drives are currently taking place for all jurisdictions (adult crime, youth and family).
