Former court buildings in Fleetwood, Telford, Chichester and Cirencester – used as Nightingale Courts since the pandemic - will be restored as permanent fixtures, the government announced today. Courts minister Sarah Sackman MP said the move secures 11 additional courtrooms across the country where capacity is most needed, covering a mixture of criminal, family and civil cases – tackling the caseload and delivering swifter justice for victims. 

Sackman made the announcement while visiting the site of the new London Law Courts due to open in Fleet Street next year. The building will provide 18 courtrooms to hear Crown, magistrate and civil cases.   

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At the peak of the 'Nightingale' initiative in July 2021, 60 temporary courtrooms were operating in hotels, conference centres and office buildings to keep justice moving during the pandemic.

The courts service has now entered a new era, Sackman said. 'We're ending the Nightingale era and making a lasting investment in justice. The permanent courtrooms, as part of our Plan for Change, will help deliver faster justice and give much-needed clarity to victims and the staff who serve them. Investment matters, but it isn't enough on its own. We must deliver bold reforms to put the broken system we inherited - on the brink of collapse - back on sustainable ground.'

The MoJ said it is investing £148.5 million this to repair and upgrade courts across England and Wales. 

Law Society president Mark Evans described the decision to convert the Nightingale facilities into permanent courts as 'sensible given the appalling backlogs'. However he said the government must ensure there are enough judges, court staff and lawyers to work on the cases. 'To bring down the backlogs and ensure truly swift and fair justice, the government must focus on efficiencies and sustained investment across the entire justice system, including reducing the number of cases coming into the courts.'

Riel Karmy-Jones KC, chair of the Criminal Bar Association, added: ‘The government’s decision to re-open 11 Nightingale courtrooms to tackle the ever-increasing backlog is a step in the right direction, and shows that they are listening. In taking this very welcome step, the government are recognising that the problems of the backlog can be ameliorated through creative use of the systems we already have.

‘The next step would be for them to remove the cap on the days judges can sit in our Crown courts, start to fix our buildings and technology, hire more court staff, and prioritise cases involving vulnerable victims and accused. There is no solution that will make the backlog disappear overnight - it has been caused by years of underinvestment. It now needs a dedicated campaign involving a package of proposals, implemented over the coming years to put right the wrongs that have brought the criminal justice system to its knees.’

 

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