header-logo header-logo

Shutting up shop

11 May 2012 / Richard Chapman
Issue: 7513 / Categories: Opinion , Procedure & practice
printer mail-detail

Richard Chapman raises the alarm over county court counter closures

The counters of the county courts around England and Wales remain open all hours that the courts are open. The 2 April 2012 deadline, from when it was threatened that the counters would be closed, save for two hours a day, has come and gone. The extended consultation period has also come and gone. During that period, more than 300 responses were submitted, among which was the detailed response prepared by the Association of HM District Judges.

We viewed the proposed counter closure programme with alarm for a variety of reasons.

Workable safeguards

There must be a recognition that in order to make the county court system more efficient and to save costs that have to be saved, everyone involved will have to adapt to new procedures—HMCTS, county court users including litigants and legal representatives, and the judiciary. However, workable safeguards must be established for those court users who will struggle with what we are left with.

When I was articled back

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

DWF—19 appointments

DWF—19 appointments

Belfast team bolstered by three senior hires and 16 further appointments

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Firm strengthens leveraged finance team with London partner hire

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Double hire marks launch of family team in Leeds

NEWS
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve reports on Haynes v Thomson, the first judicial application of the Supreme Court’s For Women Scotland ruling in a discrimination claim, in this week's NLJ
Charlie Mercer and Astrid Gillam of Stewarts crunch the numbers on civil fraud claims in the English courts, in this week's NLJ. New data shows civil fraud claims rising steadily since 2014, with the King’s Bench Division overtaking the Commercial Court as the forum of choice for lower-value disputes
The Supreme Court issued a landmark judgment in July that overturned the convictions of Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo, once poster boys of the Libor and Euribor scandal. In NLJ this week, Neil Swift of Peters & Peters considers what the ruling means for financial law enforcement
Small law firms want to embrace technology but feel lost in a maze of jargon, costs and compliance fears, writes Aisling O’Connell of the Solicitors Regulation Authority in this week's NLJ
Artificial intelligence may be revolutionising the law, but its misuse could wreck cases and careers, warns Clare Arthurs of Penningtons Manches Cooper in this week's NLJ
back-to-top-scroll