Truro Crown Court reduces operating days amid government spending cuts

Cornwall’s primary criminal court is now convening for fewer days, a measure implemented as part of the government’s initiatives to curb expenditure. Truro Crown Court will operate four days per week until March. A spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) stated: “While we are bound by a challenging financial inheritance, this government is committed to bearing down on the Crown courts backlog.” The MoJ indicated that the current government had increased the total number of Crown court sitting days across England and Wales by 500, reaching “a total of 106,500 – more than in six out of the last seven years.” It further added that plans to expand magistrates’ authority to impose longer sentences, extending from six to 12 months, are expected to free up approximately 2,000 days for Crown courts. The Ministry of Justice clarified that the government determines the number of Crown court sitting days it will fund, while the independent judiciary is “responsible for scheduling trials and allocating those sitting days.”