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MPs have warned that problems in a £1.3bn government program to modernize courts in England and Wales have placed an “unacceptable” burden on the justice system, with figures showing the number of serious criminal cases takes more than two years to complete. .
The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee said in a report published on Friday that it was “gravely concerned” about long-delayed reforms to the courts aimed at making the justice system more accessible and efficient.
Huge changesAnd some have been implemented, including virtual court hearings, online portals for divorce and probate applications, and digital case records.
The HM Courts and Courts Service, the government agency responsible for implementation, initially planned to complete it in four years, but it is now seven years later, according to the report.
The commission said officials extended the March timeline for a third time and are now proposing to introduce most changes by next March, although they don’t expect to roll out a fully digital “case management” platform until 2025.
The report found that the platform had suffered from “technical and functional issues” that “placed an unacceptable additional burden on the courts”.
“We are very concerned that, despite the long history of program resets, HMCTS has had to review its plans and delay yet again,” said the deputies.
Meanwhile, lawyers warned that the backlog of cases leaves victims and defendants waiting too long for trials to conclude.
Official data Released Thursday it showed that as of the first quarter of this year, some 17,300 pending cases had been opened in the Crown Courts – which deal with serious criminal offenses including murder, rape and robbery – for a year or more, making up 29 per cent of the total. .
Of those, more than 6,000 — or 10 percent — were still due after two years. This compared to about 500, or 1 percent, in the same period in 2014.
“The backlog we face now poses a real threat to timely access to justice,” said Meg Hillier, chair of the Labor Party’s Public Accounts Committee.
She added that while the courts were “calling” for reform, the panel’s report found that HMCTS was “now rushing to present its (reform) plans after several delays”.
Lawyers said they share the concerns. “Reform is long overdue but it must not be done in a way that increases the burden on judges, court staff, lawyers and lawyers who are already struggling beyond their means,” said Lubna Shuja, president of the Lawyers’ Association, which represents lawyers.
MPs said that of its £1.3 billion reform budget, HMCTS had only £120 million left to deliver the remaining changes.
They expressed concern that the agency had “transferred some projects from the (reform) program to its usual activities.”
Hellyer said that HMCTS had “almost completely used up its budget for the repair program just over half way”.
The findings of the deputies after the report on the same reforms as before National Audit OfficeParliament’s spending watchdog, in Feb.
The Office of Internal Audit found that the biggest problems were with the case management system for criminal courts, whose design was “problematic” and implementation had a “perverse effect”. However, she said the system has “undoubtedly improved since its initial launch”.
The Department of Justice said, “We are modernizing our courts so that they are appropriate for the 21st century, and the digital services we have provided have been successfully used more than two million times.”
A spokesperson for the court said: “There are still fewer cases pending at the Crown Court than when the barristers’ strikes ended last year and the system is running at full capacity, with unlimited sitting days and more judges appointed to restore the speedy access to justice victims deserve.”
