In an open letter, which is rapidly gaining signatories, the lawyers state: ‘The backlog of cases in the criminal courts is not due to the COVID-19 outbreak…It is the inevitable outcome of selling off courts, of reducing judges’ sitting days and of other cost-cutting measures.
‘Not only has the government ignored our warnings, it has overseen the obliteration of our profession. It has been entirely unmoved by respected legal aid firms closing down, duty solicitors and criminal barristers leaving the profession in droves, and pupils and trainees earning less than the Real Living Wage.’
It continues: ‘Now we are told it is “all hands to the pump”…We will not do it. Our goodwill has run dry. The undersigned will not attend a single court listing outside of regular court hours. Not under any circumstances.’
There have not been any weekend criminal court listings. In July, HM Courts and Tribunals proposed introducing extended operating hours to tackle the backlog of cases, in a COVID-19 recovery document. The Lord Chief Justice and Senior President of Tribunals said ‘the Lord Chancellor has agreed that sitting days should be used to their maximum’.
Lord Chancellor, Robert Buckland QC has since confirmed judges will be given the option to open court rooms for longer under ‘temporary operating arrangements’. The measure will be ‘completely at the discretion of independent judges’ and allows a court room to run morning and afternoon lists (9am-1pm and 2pm-6pm) instead of the usual 10am-4pm hours. Judges will be given discretion to hold pre-trial preparation hearings and non-trial work such as pleadings and sentencing online outside of standard working hours (9am-5pm).
Double listings have been piloted in Crown Courts in Liverpool, Cardiff, Kingston-upon-Hull, Portsmouth, Reading, Snaresbrook and Stafford.
Buckland said about 60 Crown Court rooms will reopen by September and 32 Nightingale Court rooms, which deal with non-custodial criminal trials, will have their leases extended to April 2022.
The Criminal Bar Association has said it is opposed to extended operating hours ‘in whatever form it appears’ and ‘is considering all options in terms of its opposition’.
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