Lexis®Library update: Respondents were generally concerned about the COH’s impact on arranging childcare during non-standard working hours, disadvantages to junior, female or BAME barristers, difficult travel arrangements to and from court, the impact of diversity of the Criminal Bar and the increased volume work in unsociable hours of the day.
The HMCTS has stated that COH rooms dispose of high volumes of cases compared to standards hours, with an average of 3.5 trials per room per week compared to 2.5 trials with a standard hours court. It has proposed two Temporary Operating Arrangement models. The blended model is based on the COH model whereas the remote model would consist of non-trial work, such as mentions and sentencings. They would run for at least seven hours to accommodate delays with technology. This is expected to mitigate the concerns of respondents.
The consultation outcome can be read here.
Source: Consultation on ‘COVID operating hours’ in Crown Courts
This content was first published by LNB News / Lexis®Library, a LexisNexis® company, on 27 July 2021 and is published with permission. Further information can be found at: https://www.lexisnexis.co.uk/
