Ten temporary courts to open

With the pandemic lockdown protocols now seemingly starting to ease, the court system in England which has almost reached breaking point with hearings and trials having backed up over the months since March, is now getting a boost to help ease the strain

There have been ten new temporary venues listed where the day to day hearings, tribunals, and non-custodial crime cases can be heard.

The 10 venues will start to operate from next month and it is hoped that they will drastically reduce the backlog which has built up since the lockdown all but stopped court proceedings across England.

The new venues will be :

• 102 Petty France, London (the MoJ’s , Ministry of Justice London headquarters)
• Knights’ Chamber and Visitor Centre, Bishop’s Palace, Peterborough Cathedral
• Former county court at Telford, Shropshire
• Hertfordshire Development Centre, Stevenage
• Swansea Council Chambers, Swansea
• Cloth Hall Court, a meeting and conference venue in Leeds
• Middlesbrough Town Hall, Teesside
• East Pallant House, home of Chichester District Council
• Prospero House, a meeting and conference venue in London
• Former magistrates’ court at Fleetwood, Lancashire

The Lord Chancellor Mr. Buckland said: “They will help boost capacity across our courts and tribunals – reducing delays and delivering speedier justice for victims.

“But we won’t stop there. Together with the judiciary, courts staff and legal sector, I am determined that we must pursue every available option to ensure our courts recover as quickly as possible.”

Nearly half of all the courts in England were closed in March 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, and trials were paused to try to help with stopping the spread of infections.

Almost all the regular courts are now open again with 54 jury trials set to be heard from next week, with social distancing protocols in place.