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The Reform Programme means the sale of court buildings, a substantial reduction in court staff, the use of the proceeds to establish a centralised administration connected to the judiciary via the Internet and hearings conducted, whenever possible, remotely. Both the aim and the methodology are misguided. The consequence of the reform will be that many hearings are no longer conducted face-to-face or in public, with damaging consequences for our system of justice and public confidence in it. The methodology supposes that courts can be sold, that the proceeds will suffice to provide a functioning, digital system and that everyone will be able to gain access to justice digitally; neither analysis nor experience supports these suppositions. The two branches of the legal profession should unite to publicise the likely consequences of the programme and to oppose it before the sale of more court buildings and the loss of more court staff make it irreversible.

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