Reducing the backlog in criminal courts

Public Accounts Committee Closed Inquiry
Opened: 21 Sep 2021 Closed: 27 May 2022 Parliament page
The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated a growing backlog of cases waiting to be tried in the criminal courts system. During the first national lockdown, HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) closed some court buildings, and suspended all jury trials. Since then, courts have reopened, but national guidelines for social distancing … Read more
5 Recommendations
18 Conclusions
1 Report
1 Oral session
2 Letters
1 Event
Activity timeline 6 events
23 Sep
2022
Correspondence
27 May
2022
Report published
9 Mar
2022
Report published
7 Feb
2022
Correspondence
13 Dec
2021
Oral evidence
13 Dec
2021
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · The Grimond Room, Portcullis House
Oral evidence sessions 1 session
13 Dec 2021
View on parliament.uk
Reducing the backlog in criminal courts
Andrew Baigent · HM Courts and Tribunals Service Antonia Romeo · Ministry of Justice Jerome Glass · Ministry of Justice
Title HC No. Published Items Response
Forty-Third Report - Reducing the backlog in criminal courts HC 643 9 Mar 2022 23 Responded
Recommendations & Conclusions
4 results
Clear
5 Recommendation Deferred
Forty-Third Report - Reducing the …
Vulnerable users and people from ethnic minority backgrounds are potentially impacted disproportionately by efforts to...
Vulnerable users and people from ethnic minority backgrounds are potentially impacted disproportionately by efforts to tackle the Crown Court backlog, which the Department and HMCTS have not done enough to understand. Since the start of the pandemic, HMCTS significantly increased … Read more
Government Response
The government will evaluate the experience of victims, witnesses and defendants in criminal courts as part of the HMCTS reform evaluation, with findings anticipated in Autumn 2024, and will work with partners to improve data collection, while monitoring relevant metrics, including exploring additional ones, to better understand the experience of victims from all backgrounds.
HM Treasury
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15 Conclusion Deferred
Forty-Third Report - Reducing the …
Since the start of the pandemic, the Department and HMCTS have significantly increased the use...
Since the start of the pandemic, the Department and HMCTS have significantly increased the use of hearings held remotely using video technology, and plan to continue to use them to reduce the backlog in the courts.25 We asked what impact … Read more
Government Response
The government will consider the experience of criminal court users as part of the HMCTS reform evaluation, with findings anticipated in Autumn 2024, and will work with partners to improve data collection, while monitoring relevant metrics, including exploring additional ones, to better understand the experience of victims from all backgrounds.
HM Treasury
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16 Conclusion Deferred
Forty-Third Report - Reducing the …
The Department told us that the use of remote hearings is at the discretion of...
The Department told us that the use of remote hearings is at the discretion of the judge in each individual case, and that everybody is entitled to have their reasonable adjustments considered by the judge. However, a third of people … Read more
Government Response
The government will consider the experience of criminal court users as part of the HMCTS reform evaluation, with findings anticipated in Autumn 2024, and will work with partners to improve data collection, while monitoring relevant metrics, including exploring additional ones, to better understand the experience of victims from all backgrounds.
HM Treasury
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17 Conclusion Deferred
Forty-Third Report - Reducing the …
We also asked about the impact of the pandemic on black, Asian and minority ethnic...
We also asked about the impact of the pandemic on black, Asian and minority ethnic individuals, particularly given that the Department has faced difficulties collecting and analysing data on ethnicity in the past. Since the Lammy review in 2017 into … Read more
Government Response
HMCTS will consider the experience of criminal court users as part of the evaluation of HMCTS reform, with findings anticipated in Autumn 2024; the MoJ will also work to improve data collection on ethnicity across the criminal justice system.
HM Treasury
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Government Response AI assessment · 23 of 5 classified
Accepted 10
Accepted in Part 1
Acknowledged 6
Deferred 4
Not Addressed 2
Total 5 recs + 18 conclusions
Correspondence 2 letters
23 Sep 2022 Correspondence from Antonia Romeo, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Justice, re response to the PAC Committee – Reducing the backlogs in criminal courts, dated 7 September 2022
Parliament page
7 Feb 2022 Correspondence from Jerome Glass, Director General, Policy and Strategy Group, Ministry of Justice, re Individuals released under investigation for RASSO Crimes, dated 2 February 2022
Parliament page