Face-to-face tribunal hearings are to be suspended in some mental health hospitals if the premises do not comply with the minimum safety and security requirements.

The decision follows a review by HM Courts & Tribunals Service of safety measures across the courts and tribunals estate and where judicial hearings take place. Mental health hearings are held by HMCTS in NHS premises.

HMCTS has written to more than 820 mental health hearing venues asking for confirmation that the rooms used for hearings ‘comply with the minimum safety and security requirements and published guidance for tribunal hearings’.

HMCTS said it had taken the ‘difficult decision’ to suspend face-to-face hearings at venues that do not comply with minimum safety standards or have not yet replied to say they do comply.

It added that the suspension was only ‘until HMCTS has a clearer picture of what the issue is for each hospital and how quickly HMCTS can resolve it’.

Where the safety of panel members has not been confirmed by the hospital or trust, cases will be listed as ‘video hearing only’. If there is a reason, medical or otherwise, that a person cannot have a video hearing, the representative should apply for the matter to be referred to a district tribunal judge for listing directions, HMCTS said.

It added: 'In those venues that are compliant, patients shall continue to be able to opt for face-to-face or video hearings. This list will be added to by HMCTS regularly once safety and security standards have been met.'

Meanwhile, the Gazette understands that judges at the Central Family Court, London, are to resume wearing robes, without wigs, as part of a pilot scheme to help reduce the number of incidents of abusive behaviour. HM Judiciary declined to comment.

In December 2023, a judge was assaulted by a litigant in person during a private family hearing. At the time, HM Courts & Tribunals Service described the incident as ‘shocking’ but ‘extremely rare’.

Law Society president Nick Emmerson urged HMCTS to work with NHS trusts to ‘ensure that patients are given the option of a face-to-face hearing’ to ‘ensure patients have access to the justice they are entitled to’.

He added: ‘We are concerned about the impact of the decision by HMCTS to suspend face-to-face tribunal hearings in venues that do not comply with safety standards. Tribunal hearings involving vulnerable people are likely to be best served when in-person.

‘While the safety of staff is critical, patients must be able to effectively exercise their rights to challenge their detention.’

 

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