Nightingale courts in Fleetwood, Telford, Chichester, and Cirencester were made permanent
UK courts minister Sarah Sackman has announced the addition of 11 courtrooms across the country to tackle criminal, family, and civil cases in areas requiring capacity, reported the Law Society Gazette.
Former court buildings in Fleetwood, Telford, Chichester, and Cirencester are set for restoration as permanent fixtures. They had been used as Nightingale courts since the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
The justice ministry said it was injecting £148.5 million into the repair and upgrading of courts in England and Wales.
“We're ending the Nightingale era and making a lasting investment in justice. The permanent courtrooms, as part of our Plan for Change, will help deliver faster justice and give much-needed clarity to victims and the staff who serve them. Investment matters, but it isn't enough on its own. We must deliver bold reforms to put the broken system we inherited - on the brink of collapse - back on sustainable ground,” Sackman said in a statement published by the Gazette.
Law Society president Mark Evans said in a statement published by the Gazette that the decision to transform Nightingale courts into permanent ones was “sensible given the appalling backlogs”; however, he highlighted the need for adequate staffing resources.
“To bring down the backlogs and ensure truly swift and fair justice, the government must focus on efficiencies and sustained investment across the entire justice system, including reducing the number of cases coming into the courts,” Evans said.
Criminal Bar Association chair Riel Karmy-Jones added that the government was recognizing how backlog issues could be addressed through the creative use of existing systems.
“The next step would be for them to remove the cap on the days judges can sit in our Crown courts, start to fix our buildings and technology, hire more court staff, and prioritise cases involving vulnerable victims and accused,” Karmy-Jones said in a statement published by the Gazette. “There is no solution that will make the backlog disappear overnight - it has been caused by years of underinvestment. It now needs a dedicated campaign involving a package of proposals, implemented over the coming years to put right the wrongs that have brought the criminal justice system to its knees.”
In July 2021, 60 temporary Nightingale courts were established in hotels, conference centers, and office buildings. The new London Law Courts are set to open on Fleet Street next year, with 18 courtrooms earmarked for Crown, magistrate and civil case proceedings.
