HM Courts & Tribunals Service has dismissed claims that a technology failure adversely affected cases, stating that an internal investigation found ‘no evidence’ of any impact on outcomes.
The BBC reported last week that an ‘IT bug’ in case management software had led to ‘data corruption’, citing a leaked internal report. But HMCTS maintained only a ‘small number’ of documents were inaccessible to platform users, and that these would have been available regardless through other means such as parties’ own bundles.
A problem was identified in 2023, though technical issues are understood to have arisen between 2020 and January 2025, before the coding was fixed.
A HMCTS spokesperson said: ‘Our internal investigation found no evidence that any case outcomes were affected as a result of these technical issues. The digitisation of our systems is vital to bring courts and tribunals into the modern era and provide quicker, simpler access to justice for all those who use our services. We will continue to press ahead with our important modernisation.’
The organisation said the assessed risk did not meet the threshold for reporting to the Information Commissioner’s Office due to its ‘low impact’. It added that ‘fail-safes’ meant parties and judges involved in cases affected by the bug ‘always’ had access to necessary documents.
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HMCTS highlighted that in family public law, the bundle is usually prepared by the legal team appointed by the local authority. These bundles, which were not affected by the technical error in the system, are the basis for judgments. In social security and child support, a bundle is prepared by the original decision-maker, such as the Department for Work and Pensions in cases relating to benefits. The appellant can then add to the bundle.
‘In practice, even if a document were to be omitted from the bundle, it would be picked up in the hearing’, HMCTS said.
Last Friday, Bar chair Barbara Mills KC called for an ‘urgent and comprehensive’ investigation into the incident, describing it as the ‘latest in a series of issues with the courts’ IT systems which it’s now apparent are affecting the entire justice sector due to lack of investment’. She said: ‘We’re alarmed by the news that this bug may have caused miscarriages of justice. We need an urgent and comprehensive investigation to establish any potential impact on case outcomes and particularly whether emergency child protection cases have been affected.
‘The Ministry of Justice should undertake an audit of all its IT systems so that any problems can be proactively identified and addressed rather than sticking plasters being used as and when these issues come to light. Our IT systems must be fit for purpose before they are implemented.’
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