Use of technology to clear courts backlog ‘needs to be assessed’
The impact of the use of new technology in the courts to clear a huge backlog of cases caused by Covid-19 needs to be properly assessed for how it impacts on access to justice, MPs have said.
A new report by the Commons Justice Select Committee said the pandemic has caused the record backlog of court cases to top 450,000, leaving Crown and Magistrates’ Courts struggling to keep up.
It includes a backlog of 5,000 cases which were delayed at courts in the West Midlands between March and June. The system was already in crisis before the coronavirus hit, with cases at courts in Stafford and Wolverhampton taking an average of 215 days longer to complete in 2019 than they did in 2011.
Now efforts are being made to clear the backlog. They include the introduction of a ‘Nightingale Court’ for the West Midlands at Telford’s former county court, while the number of cases heard via video link trebled during the early stages of the pandemic.
Those within the judicial system are concerned about the impact of delays.
Paul Birch dealt with about 15,000 cases during a 15-year stint as a Justice of the Peace in the Black Country, and also served as chair of victim and witness support.
He said the system had deteriorated rapidly, with courts such as Sandwell shutting down and the number of magistrates falling by more than 10,000 in just four years.
“The system has been run down and tragically it is the victims who have been forgotten. In many cases they have been left to themselves,” he said.
The high profile cases to put back include the trial of a police officer accused of the murder of former Villa star Dalian Atkinson. PC Benjamin Monk was due to stand trial in September, but the provisional date is now April 12, 2021.
The delay prompted Judge Melbourne Inman QC to to say that social distancing measures had created “significant restrictions” for trials.
Last week the Star revealed fewer than one in 10 crimes reported to police forces across the West Midlands result in anyone appearing in court – far fewer than five years ago.
Access
Lord Chief Justice Lord Burnett of Maldon said jury trial cases were accumulating in the order of 1,000 a month.
HM Courts and Tribunals Service data shows that the number of cases heard each day with the use of audio and video technology increased from fewer than 1,000 in the last week of March to over 3,000 by mid-April.
The chairman of the committee, Sir Robert Neill, said the backlog needed to be addressed while also looking at how technology affects access to justice.
He said: “Justice delayed can be justice denied. More and more people are waiting for their day in court. We welcome the Government’s attempts to reduce the backlog by thinking beyond simply increasing sitting days.
“We also urge it to ensure that access to justice remains at the heart of its proposals.
“We are impressed by the way new technology has been used by courts to speed things along in some cases, but more research is needed on how ordinary people – defendants and witnesses – experience this technology.”
