Courts Relocate Cases to Address National Hearing Backlog

Judges in at least two crown courts situated in eastern England have transferred cases to neighboring counties in an effort to tackle a nationwide backlog of hearings. Cases originally scheduled for Ipswich and St Albans, Hertfordshire, have been moved to Cambridge. Court listings also indicate that crown court proceedings are being conducted in adjacent buildings typically utilized by magistrates in St Albans and Peterborough. Ministers assert that hearings are being relocated to ensure that justice is not hindered by court delays. An unnamed senior barrister welcomed the initiatives to reduce court waiting lists. However, the barrister added: “People at the lower end of the socio-economic scale will probably be most vulnerable.” The barrister further noted: “If people don’t have cars and have to rely on public transport, then that will take time and mean expense for them.” This barrister cited “under-investment” in courts and the pandemic as contributing factors to the backlog of hearings. Courts minister Heidi Alexander stated that measures are being implemented to decrease the backlog of hearings. A Ministry of Justice (MoJ) spokesman clarified that decisions regarding case transfers were made by local presiding judges in conjunction with officials from HM Courts & Tribunals Service, which is responsible for court administration. MoJ officials confirmed that cases from St Albans and Ipswich were switched to a neighboring county, and that the needs of complainants, including any potential travel difficulties, had been taken into account. In May, the National Audit Office (NAO) released a report on hearing backlogs. The NAO’s report detailed how the number of outstanding cases surged when courts were closed during the pandemic, and the backlog worsened as lawyers resigned or went on strike due to a pay dispute. In August, Baroness Helen Newlove, the victims’ commissioner for England and Wales, launched a survey aimed at understanding the impact of court waiting times on crime victims. The results have not yet been published. Concerns have been raised regarding case delays in Norfolk and Suffolk. Norfolk’s police and crime commissioner reported that victims felt “failed” after figures revealed nearly 1,000 outstanding cases at Norwich Crown Court. Sarah Taylor commented that delayed trials led individuals to perceive their “hopes of justice” as being “on hold.” Ipswich Labour MP Jack Abbott recently informed Members of Parliament about reports indicating over 1,000 outstanding cases at Ipswich Crown Court. Barrister Simon Spence KC told BBC Radio Suffolk that he did not perceive a “major problem” with cases from west Suffolk being moved to Cambridge. He added: “However, if you start moving cases around the country, the risk of people not being produced in the right place, at the right time, will go up.” Civil courts and inquests have also experienced delays. In May, a law firm issued a statement concerning delays in county court hearings in Essex. Central Law CIC specified that courts in Chelmsford, Colchester, Basildon, Southend, and Ipswich were affected. An inquest into the death of a convicted sex offender was recently held in Peterborough, four years after he died in Littlehey Prison near Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire. A spokesperson for the coroner’s office stated that several factors contributed to the delay, one of which was the pandemic.