Justice ministry urged to limit court hearings to most urgent

Pressure is growing on the Ministry of Justice to limit criminal court hearings to urgent cases only as restrictions on social gatherings and movement become tougher.
Lawyers, jurors, witnesses and defendants are still required to attend court, although the lord chief justice, Lord Burnett of Maldon, has postponed trials due to last longer than three days and called for video links to be used where possible.
As the government has closed pubs and restaurants and recommended social distancing in public spaces, normal routines in courthouses appear increasingly out of step.
Rhona Friedman, a criminal solicitor and a committee member of the London Criminal Courts Solicitors Association, told the Guardian: “I saw a young man brought into the dock at Croydon magistrate’s court on Saturday coughing up phlegm into a tissue in the dock. The security staff realized they shouldn’t be sitting right next to him and retreated as far as they could, which wasn’t very far.
“He had been to hospital the night before but hadn’t been given a test, I guess because he wasn’t admitted and was returned to police detention. He didn’t get bail and was sent to prison.”
She added: “On one occasion last week I was told there were 30 people in the cells in Highbury magistrate’s court. It’s all completely contrary to government and NHS advice.
“The government should be stopping appearances in person in all nonurgent cases. This is putting people’s lives at risk, particularly in the prison system.”
Young Legal Aid Lawyers, which supports professionals taking legal aid cases, called on the government to “immediately cease all in-person court hearings and ensure access to justice through telephone and video hearings”.
A spokesperson for the Criminal Bar Association said: “Criminal barristers and solicitors are doing their utmost to fulfil their duty as officers of the court to complete trials that are under way; however, it may be inevitable that events will overtake the whole of the criminal justice system if sufficient numbers of jurors and witnesses have to self-isolate.”
A spokesman for Burnett said: “The lord chief justice and the senior judiciary have been balancing the need for justice to continue with the need to keep people safe.
“As the pandemic has quickly developed over recent days, they will continue to review advice as the situation changes. As the advice to judges on the judiciary website makes clear, judges are being told to be flexible and innovative with technology of all kinds.”
A spokesperson for HM Courts and Tribunals Service said: “We are minimising the risk to everyone in our courts by stopping nonurgent work and increasing telephone and online hearings. The situation is under constant review and we are hugely grateful to all those working hard to keep our justice system running.”
The statement did not explain what cases were deemed to be “nonurgent” and implied that criminal cases, which are still going ahead, were therefore all deemed to be urgent.
Housing lawyers and the charity Shelter have called for thousands of home repossession cases heard in county courts to be postponed until after the crisis.
People in danger of losing their houses and flats are still being summoned in block bookings to sit together in courts waiting for judges to decide on claims, despite the prime minister’s promise that renters and mortgage borrowers would be protected from eviction.
The housing ministry has said no new repossession cases should start during the crisis but existing ones are continuing. In some courts, judges have ordered that hearings should be postponed for several months.
A judge in Exeter published a notice last week saying cases would be put back until June “upon noting the declared intention of the government to pass emergency legislation to prevent the evictions of renters” and to provide borrowers with mortgage holidays.
At Brentford county court in west London, a list of cases was summoned to court last Friday. One of the respondents was pregnant, another had a serious health condition and others wore face masks because they said they had symptoms of flu-like illness, lawyers present reported. All had turned up to try to prevent their homes from being taken. Despite a request to postpone proceedings, some went ahead.
Renata Burns, a solicitor with Hammersmith and Fulham Law Centre, who was at Brentford on Friday, said: “There was no reason why these hearings could not have been [postponed]. It meant people were all cramped together in courthouse rooms.”
Sue James, the director of Hammersmith and Fulham Law Centre and an expert on housing law, said: “The way that possession cases are listed – in blocks of time – puts all parties at risk. You soon build up to having 20 or 30 people in the waiting area. That makes for a lot of people in a confined space. The lord chief justice has advised that it is now inappropriate to continue to list cases in this way. Yet they are still continuing in some courts.
“It makes no sense for the possession cases and evictions to continue – and it is against government guidance to evict tenants and mortgagees. It is time there was a clear direction in these cases.” Polly Neate, the chief executive of Shelter, said: “[Last] week the government committed to ban new evictions for three months, which will have come as a huge relief for many renters worried about losing their home as a result of this crisis.
“At Shelter we’re hearing from terrified renters being threatened with eviction, and we’re still seeing cases moving through the courts, so we hope to see the legislation come forward soon to ensure that all evictions are halted and everyone is safe in their homes.”
The Ministry of Justice said housing cases were a matter for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. The MHCLG has said there should be “no new possession proceedings through applications to the court to start during the crisis”.
Источник: https://www.theguardian.com/law/2020/mar/22/uk-justice-ministry-urged-to-restrict-court-hearings-to-most-urgent-coronavirus (22.03.20).
Legal Terms
The Ministry of Justice is a ministerial department of the British Government headed by the Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor (a combined position).
The Hearing - The hearing of the arguments of the counsel for the parties upon the pleadings, or pleadings and proofs; corresponding to the trial of an action at law. The word “hearing” has an established meaning as applicable to equity cases. It means the same thing in those cases that the word “trial” does in cases at law.
A criminal solicitor - In English law. A legal practitioner in the court of chancery. The words “solicitor” and “attorney” are commonly used indiscriminately, although they are not precisely the same, an attorney being a practitioner in the courts of common law, a solicitor a practitioner in the courts.
The London Criminal Courts Solicitors Association (“LCCSA”) was founded in 1948. Members are Solicitors who practice in and around the Greater London area. Included are Prosecutors and self-employed advocates. Honorary Members (who are past Members of the Association) include Circuit Judges and District Judges.
A magistrate’s court - In England and Wales, a magistrates' court is a lower court, which holds trials for summary offences and preliminary hearings for more serious ones. Some civil matters are also decided here, notably family proceedings.
The Criminal Bar Association -exists to represent the views and interests of the practicing members of the Criminal Bar in England and Wales.
The lord chief justice, the head of the judiciary of England and Wales. The lord chief justice traditionally served as head of the Queen’s (or King’s) Bench Division of the High Court of Justice and as head of the Criminal Division of the Court of Appeal
The senior judiciary - Senior judicial officers shall carry out the judicial administration tasks assigned to them by this Act.
Judiciary - adj. Pertaining or relating to the courts of justice, to the judicial department of government, or to the administration of justice.
HM Courts & Tribunals Service is responsible for the administration of criminal, civil and family courts and tribunals in England and Wales. HMCTS is an executive agency, sponsored by the Ministry of Justice.
Housing lawyers act for plaintiffs or defendants with regard to litigation and their clients include private individuals, Local Authority landlords and Housing Associations. Day-to-day activities include interviewing clients, negotiating settlements, advocating on behalf of clients and briefing Counsel.
The housing ministry - The Ministry of Housing was a United Kingdom government department formed after the Second World War, covering the areas of housing and local government.
A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges.
Brentford county court –1) a county court is a local court, which deals with private disputes between people, but does not deal with serious crimes. 2) a local law court in England and in some parts of the US that deals with cases that do not involve serious crime.
A Law Centre is a type of not-for-profit legal practice in the United Kingdom, which assists people who cannot afford a lawyer. Law Centres are independent and directly accountable to the communities they serve, usually through committees of local people. Staffed by lawyers and caseworkers, Law Centres help people with civil legal problems such as eviction from their home, exploitation at work, discrimination and exclusion from school.
The lord chief justice of England and Wales is the Head of the Judiciary of England and Wales and the President of the Courts of England and Wales.
The legislation - The act of giving or enacting laws.
The Ministry of Justice is a major government department, at the heart of the justice system. We work to protect and advance the principles of justice.