Nightingales will also open in Staffordshire and Cirencester. In total, the venues will provide an extra nine courtrooms, bringing the total number of Nightingale courtrooms to 40.
Robert Buckland QC, the Lord Chancellor, said the courts would ‘help to boost capacity and reduce the delays caused by this virus’.
Birmingham and Lancaster Nightingales will begin hearing cases this week, with the other venues opening their doors by the end of January 2021.
The new sites will hear non-custodial crime cases, as well as civil, family and tribunals work.
Law Society president David Greene said: ‘They are an essential resource during the pandemic.
‘Court time must be used as efficiently as possible―investing in legal aid for early advice and legal representation would help to nip problems in the bud before they escalate and reduce the need for cases to go to court.’
