Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the courts have been experiencing severe backlogs, and are not expected to go back to pre-pandemic levels until at least 2025. That means that people who require legal services will find themselves waiting several years to obtain an outcome to their criminal case. The crown court backlog has risen by 19,000 since coronavirus in March 2019.
The Statistics
As stated in the article from the Law Gazette, The National Audit Study Office published a study on Friday confirming that the backlog could be 17% – 27% higher than pre-pandemic levels in November 2024.
THE NAO informed us that another £500 million of funding is necessary before 2024 to reduce the backlog to below 50,000 cases. They also declared that the number of cases obtained in the Crown Court and not yet closed increased by 48% to 62,692, by the end of June.
Furthermore, the number of cases older than a year in the crown court increased from 2,830 to 11,379 (302%), a tremendous increase during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, there have been numerous efforts to carry out court cases online; with constant improvements to the online hearing platform, the backlog is still severe. Read more about this topic here.
Gareth Davies, the head of the NAO, said: “Despite efforts to increase capacity in criminal courts, it looks likely that the backlog will remain a problem for many years. The impact on victims, witnesses and defendants are severe and the Ministry of Justice must work effectively with its partners in the criminal justice system to minimise the delays to justice.”
Are changes being made to tackle the backlog?
A range of changes needs to be implemented, to help tackle the backlog in court caused by the pandemic. Unsurprisingly, MOJ has done an impeccable job in adapting to the new circumstances, that the COVID-19 pandemic has brought to us.
The spokesman of MOJ revealed that: “This report recognises the speed at which we responded to Covid-19. This meant that in a matter of months our buildings were made safe, remote technology was rolled out across all courts” he also specified that: “We are already seeing the results, with outstanding cases in the Magistrates courts falling, and in the crown court the backlog stabilising.”.
The right changes have been made in courts to conquer the backlog, adaptations to court, and how the courts have managed to digitalise viewing and court procedures can only be impressive. Digitalising court is probably the future that legal professionals may have to get used to.
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