Trial blitz
An autumn trial ‘blitz’ and more vaccinated magistrates on the bench are part of an 'ambitious' action plan to get the justice system back on track, the Gazette can reveal.
The Judiciary and HM Courts & Tribunals Service set out details in a document entitled Magistrates’ Criminal Courts 5-Point Plan: Recovery Ambitions for Adult & Youth Courts.
The action plan, which the Gazette has seen, is designed to ‘safely restore court listing and timings to pre-pandemic levels at the earliest opportunity and at the latest by 31 December 2021. This is ambitious but achievable assuming the roadmap for lifting current restrictions remain on track’.
The action plan aims to: improve on pre-Christmas listing and disposal rates; return to 'TSJ' charging timings by July; reduce trial waiting times through ‘trial blitzes’; continue to maximise on court capacity with flexible listing; and return to normal magistrates’ arrangements by July.
The document states that in the first eight weeks of 2021, average weekly receipts rose by 6.1% to 23,336. ‘At the same time, in response to reduction in listing loadings and the need to reduce footfall in the magistrates’ courts, average weekly disposals fell by 8.5% to 22,686'. The total volume of outstanding work on 20 December was 466,445, rising to 477,811 by the end of February. The 6.1% increase in receipts is attributed to an increase in summary motoring cases.
Under the plan, each court would be assessed with a view to returning listing levels to pre-Christmas arrangements or better from April so that non-Single Justice Procedure disposals return to at least 15,650 cases per week. A newly-created national taskforce will work with police ‘to reduce the number of youth offenders whose first appearance is before an adult court’.
