The government has announced that a fifth of all courts and tribunals in England and Wales are to close, despite widespread petitions and more than 10,000 signatures. 86 of 460 courts and tribunal hearing centres will shut as part of "modernisation" plans, HM Courts and Tribunal Service confirmed. The reforms aim to reduce the £500m annual cost of the courts estate.
Ministers said 48% of court buildings were empty at least half of the time last year, though the Law Society has warned closures could limit access to justice. Crown courts, county courts, family courts, youth courts, civil courts and tribunal hearing centres are among the centres that will close.
The government has published a schedule for the closures, with six phases planned between now and September 2017.
Shailesh Vara, Parliamentary Under Secretary of Justice told Asian Voice, “The government is committed to modernising the way in which justice is accessed and delivered. We are investing over £700m over the next 4 years to update the court and tribunal estate, installing modern IT systems and making the justice system more efficient and effective for modern users...
“Many of the current 460 court buildings are underused: last year 48% of all courts and tribunals were empty for at least half their available hearing time. These buildings are expensive to maintain yet unsuitable for modern technology.
Court closures are difficult decisions; local communities have strong allegiances to their local courts and I understand their concerns. But changes to the estate are vital if we are to modernise a system which everybody accepts is unwieldy, inefficient, slow, expensive to maintain and unduly bureaucratic...”
