The Ministry of Justice has hailed a new milestone in the rollout of the ‘Common Platform’ case management system. Every Crown and magistrates’ court now has access to the ‘Common Platform’ system, the MoJ said today. All information on new criminal court cases in England and Wales now sits on the single digital system.
In a statement, the MoJ said the Common Platform ‘will allow quicker and seamless sharing of information between all those involved in criminal justice cases’.
But the system has drawn the ire of legal professionals and other court users alike since its introduction in late 2020. Court staff took strike action over it in October last year and January 2023. They described it as more of a strain on their already over-stretched resources.
In February it was revealed by the National Audit Office that the system failed to send out hundreds of important notifications over the course of nearly a year – resulting in 35 individuals not being fitted with an electronic monitoring tag when they should have been.
In the same month, Scott Bowen, a criminal defence solicitor with Blackfords LLP and a member of the Law Society’s criminal law committee, said he had come across problems when using it. ‘Technical issues, such as being timed out of the system when visiting clients, and not having a shareable online document for forms, have led me to agree with the many others who view the common platform as not fit for purpose,’ Bowen wrote in the Gazette.
In a statement today, justice minister Mike Freer said: ‘Common Platform is improving how we work to deliver justice. It will allow instant and seamless information sharing that will reduce errors and ensure vital details about cases can be seen quickly by all those involved in a case.
‘Connecting every criminal court with partner agencies and professionals is helping make them fit for the future.’
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