Judges' safety a growing concern, LCJ’s annual report finds

The ‘increasingly challenging landscape’ judges have had to work in over the past year has included 'inaccurate and unfair criticism, sometimes personal, with associated security threats' the lady chief justice has warned. 

In her second annual report in the role, Baroness Carr of Walton-on-the-Hill noted the establishment of a security taskforce, led by Mrs Justice Yip, which 'seeks to increase judicial office holders’ understanding of how they can better protect themselves'. The taskforce has launched new digital security training, she said. 'It will also work collaboratively with experts from the police and other criminal justice agencies to ensure that the best possible systems and procedures are in place to protect the judiciary.'

Meanwhile, she welcomed the Ministry of Justice promise of capital funding to ensure that HMCTS can adequately update courts and tribunals estates to ensure that they are safe.

The report, which covers the year to September 2025, includes reflections on security from notable members of the judiciary. Sir Nicholas Green, senior presiding judge for England and Wales, said security ‘continues to be…an area of ongoing concern’.

He added: ‘We see far too many instances of judges experiencing threats and harassment, both physically and online.'

The president of the King’s Bench Division, Dame Victoria Sharp, added that the security of KBD judges ‘must be a priority’. ‘I am continuing to work with ministers and HMCTS to ensure judges across the High Court, and beyond, are given the support and security that they need, in particular when working on circuit,’ she stated.

The report also noted a ‘marked increase’ in the number of applications submitted to the King’s Bench Division civil list and the administrative court by litigants in person which ‘typically require greater administrative support’.

In 2024-25, applications lodged by LiPs in the administrative court rose 14.5% on the previous year to 1,514, the report states.

In the Court of Appeal criminal division, the proportion of applications lodged by LiPs ‘has remained consistent and amounts to around 40% of conviction applications received’.

The report adds: ‘Criminal appeal office lawyers devote a considerable amount of time assisting LiPs and ensuring their applications are properly prepared for consideration by a single judge and the full court. Use of the easy-read form has helped LiPs to present the points they seek to raise but such applications can be time consuming to understand fully.’