Law Society says more needs to be done as 20 Nightingale courts remain open to provide ‘swifter access to justice’

‘Temporary’ courtrooms, first introduced in the pandemic to provide additional space for hearings, will continue to be used by judges across nine different venues, the Ministry of Justice has announced. Four years after the scheme was created, 20 Nightingale courtrooms will remain open, some until March 2025.

It is hoped the additional courts will provide ‘speedier access to justice’ and help boost capacity.

The Nightingale courts chosen to remain open have been identified as able to help reduce the number of local outstanding cases, support maintenance projects where nearby locations are temporarily closed, or to make full use of judicial capacity in areas where more judges are available.

Justice minister Mike Freer MP said: ‘People who break the law must face justice and ensuring these 20 extra courtrooms remain open in 2024 will do just that. Crown courts are already dealing with the highest number of cases than at any point since 2019. We want to keep making progress and deliver swifter access to justice.’

However Law Society president Nick Emmerson said ‘additional physical capacity alone is not the solution’ as ‘there are already Nightingale courts sitting empty due to a lack of judges’ and long-term investment was ‘urgently’ needed. 

He added: ‘The huge backlogs in our criminal courts are causing unacceptable delays for victims, witnesses and defendants and any extra capacity to deal with them is welcome.

‘Last month, the lady chief justice highlighted that there were 100 unplanned closures of courtrooms every week due to the dilapidated physical state of our courts. We hear the same story from our members, who often work in courts with broken heating, sewage, mould and asbestos. The most pressing issue is there are not enough lawyers, court staff or judges to cover all the outstanding cases,’ Emmerson said. ‘If no immediate action is taken, courts will be even less able to cope, with potentially damaging consequences for society. A significant injection of funding is urgently needed to prevent this collapse.’

The Nightingale courts remaining open until March 2025, each providing two courtrooms, are Chichester; Cirencester; Croydon; and Fleetwood, Blackpool.

Barbican, London, will provide two Crown courtrooms until August 2024 while the Grand Connaught Rooms, London, will also provide two Crown courtrooms until September 2024.

Maple House, Birmingham, will provide four courtrooms, two civil and two family, and will be open until December 2024. Swansea will have one Crown courtroom until March 2025 and Telford will have three courtrooms hearing civil and family matters until March 2025.