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Overhaul of courts in England and Wales beset by problems, say MPs

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Problems with a £1.3bn authorities programme to modernise the courts in England and Wales have positioned an “unacceptable” burden on the justice system, MPs have warned, as figures present a report quantity of severe felony instances are taking greater than two years to conclude.

The House of Commons public accounts committee mentioned in a report printed on Friday that it was “seriously concerned” about long-delayed reforms of the courts geared toward making the justice system extra accessible and environment friendly.

Sweeping adjustments, some of which have been applied, embrace digital courtroom hearings, on-line portals for divorce and probate functions, and digital case data.

HM Courts and Tribunals Service, the federal government company answerable for implementation, had initially deliberate to finish them inside 4 years however is now seven years in, in accordance with the report.

In March officers prolonged the timetable for a 3rd time and now suggest to ship most of the adjustments by subsequent March, though they don’t count on to totally roll out a digital “case management” platform till 2025, mentioned the committee.

The report discovered the platform had been beset by “technical and functionality issues” that had “placed an unacceptable additional burden on the courts”.

“We are seriously concerned that, despite a long history of resets to the programme, HMCTS has had to revise and delay its plans again,” mentioned the MPs.

Meanwhile, legal professionals have warned {that a} case backlog is leaving victims and defendants ready a very long time for trials to conclude.

Official knowledge launched on Thursday confirmed that, as of the primary quarter of this yr, about 17,300 excellent instances in crown courts — which take care of severe felony offences together with homicide, rape and theft — had been open for a yr or extra, equal to 29 per cent of the entire.

Of these, greater than 6,000 — or 10 per cent — had been nonetheless excellent after two years. This compares with solely about 500, or 1 per cent, in the identical interval in 2014.

“The backlogs now faced pose a real threat to timely access to justice,” mentioned Meg Hillier, Labour chair of the general public accounts committee.

While the courts had been “crying out” for reform, the committee’s report discovered HMCTS was “now rushing to introduce its [reform] plans following multiple delays”, she added.

Lubna Shuja: ‘Reform is long overdue but mustn’t be carried out in a approach that provides to the burden on judges, courtroom workers, solicitors and barristers’ © Darren Filkins/Law Society

Lawyers mentioned they shared the issues. Lubna Shuja, president of the Law Society, which represents solicitors, mentioned: “Reform is long overdue but mustn’t be done in a way that adds to the burden on judges, court staff, solicitors and barristers who are already overstretched.”

The MPs mentioned that, of its £1.3bn reform finances, HMCTS had solely £120mn remaining to ship remaining adjustments.

They expressed concern the company had “moved some projects out of the [reform] programme into its business-as-usual activities”.

HMCTS had “burnt through almost its entire budget for a programme of reform only a little over halfway complete”, mentioned Hillier.

The MPs’ findings follows a report into the identical reforms by the National Audit Office, parliament’s spending watchdog, in February.

The NAO discovered the best issues had been with the case administration system for felony courts, whose design was “beset with problems” and implementation was “having a detrimental impact”. Still, it mentioned the system had “undoubtedly improved since its initial rollout”.

The Ministry of Justice mentioned: “We are modernising our courts so they are fit for the 21st century and the digital services we have introduced have been used successfully over 2mn times.”

A spokesperson mentioned: “The number of outstanding cases in the Crown Court remains lower than when the barristers’ strikes ended last year and the system is working at full capacity, with unlimited sitting days and more judges being recruited to restore the swift access to justice victims deserve.” 

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