By Gabriel Princewill-
Uk Crown courts are behind in running costs by £35m, as court back logs in the Uk continue to soar.
The sorry state of affairs continues to dog the Ministry Of Justice, whose press office are usually one of the most eloquent in addressing media queries, but due to no fault of their own are unable to effectively address a disturbing problem that call for urgent palliatives to redress an understated problem in the British system today.
The Law Society has been complaining tirelessly about this issue to no avail, yet adequate solutions are not forthcoming.
Altogether 78 of the 84 Crown court buildings within the HMCTS estate have a repair request yet to be completed, with the average cost of outstanding repairs at each court building at around £455,000, meaning that £35m worth of repairs are waiting to be carried out across England and Wales.
The embarrassing state of affairs is said to be putting prospective lawyers off the profession, and frustrating all parties waiting to get their cases over and done with. Their wait is indefinite for the moment.
Only recently, barristers poured out in numbers to strike over pay issues; a grim reminder of the sorry state of a justice system which is now too dysfunctional to speedily produce justice for all who are desperately waiting for court outcomes.
Their reasonable expectations in making future plans rendered futile in the short run, whilst they bear the brunt of all other matters that may hinge on the timing of their all importance cases
Signs of progress are not within sight either, whilst billions are spent on a war supporting Ukraine at the expense of domestic issues at home.
Supporting Ukraine might be a necessity to show a united front with the rest of Europe and the world against the excesses of the dictatorial Kremlin regime, but spending lofty amounts on war when the justice system in the Uk is on the brink of falling apart is a misjudgement of epic proportions. It is like tightening their essential family budget to finance other people.
The Law Society today raised alarm over the issue , but shied away from explicitly stating what was responsible for the shortage and whether there was a feasible remedy to address what is increasingly becoming a malady in the system.
Law Society president I. Stephanie Boyce said that after decades of underfunding and cuts, widespread investment is needed across the criminal justice system. ‘Given the huge backlog of outstanding Crown court cases which is causing unacceptable delays for victims and defendants, it is extremely disturbing to see so many court sitting days lost because of the poor state of the buildings,’ she added.
‘We have been raising the alarm about the crumbling state of our court buildings for some time now and with so many courts in need of repair it is inevitable more sitting days will be lost.’
Exactly what is stopping the requisite level of investment has not been stated, but the government is known to often make cuts in various areas to prioritize spending in other areas.
The MOJ were also short of words today when The Eye Of Media.Com asked for an explanation of the reported shortage and what steps would be made to address them.
The MoJ say spending has been prioritised to ensure buildings are safe, secure, and meet statutory requirements- a response that overlooks the reality
A statement from a spokesperson added: ‘We spent over £100m on court maintenance and repairs last year, and funded over 100,000 sitting days last year to keep justice moving.’ But how about this year?
The ludicrous state of affairs beggars belief, one is must ask why this shambolic situation is still going on.
Kevin Sadler, former chief executive of HM Courts & Tribunals Service, recently told the justice committee that the Treasury had provided an extra £105m capital funding on top of the expected £50m in 2021, catering for about 50 % of the estate .
Unless the British government can urgently sort out the sorry state of its court system, the knock on effect of its failure will no doubt spread like wildfire to other crucial aspects of societal issues.