Consultation outcome

Consultation on ‘COVID operating hours’ in Crown Courts

Applies to England and Wales

This consultation has concluded

Download the full outcome

COVID operating hours: consultation outcome document

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Temporary operating arrangements: Public sector equality duty statement

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Oriau Gweithredu yn ystod COVID Ymateb i Ymgynghoriad

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Trefniadau Gweithredu Dros Dro Datganiad Dyletswydd Cydraddoldeb y Sector Cyhoeddus

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Detail of outcome

Having considered the responses to the consultation and assessed the current situation, the Lord Chancellor has taken the decision to endorse - on a short-term, timebound basis - a flexible approach (known as ‘temporary operating arrangements’) that supports Resident Judges who wish to:

  • sit different hours to recover from the impact of the pandemic on their local caseloads
  • use a new “remote” model for non-jury trial work that will enhance flexibility, and address concerns about changes in travel time   

These measures are temporary and timebound. They will come to an end six months after any court chooses to implement them and we will carefully monitor their impact. It is one measure in the suite of recovery activity (such as remote hearings) available to Resident Judges as an option should they want to use it, and will not be mandated across courts and tribunals.

Any use of these models is at the discretion of the local judiciary and should follow careful discussion and consideration with local court users, including legal practitioners.


Original consultation

Summary

Seeking views on COVID operating hours as part of wider COVID-19 recovery plans in the Crown Court. The consultation closed at 11:45pm on 14 December 2020.

This consultation ran from
to

Consultation description

As part of HMCTS’ Crime Recovery Plan, one of the four pillars to recovery is to further maximise the use of our existing estate through opening our buildings for longer during coronavirus (COVID-19). The pandemic and its necessary countermeasures are an unprecedented challenge to the courts and tribunals which merits an unprecedented response.

COVID operating hours (COH) were piloted in seven Crown Court centres to test whether we could do more in the limited space we have to support recovery. The pilots were unrelated to previous pilots which have tested extended and flexible operating hours in the civil and family courts. They were purposefully designed to respond to the impacts of COVID-19, and to be a temporary response to increase capacity.

Following the pilots of COH at Crown Court locations around the country, assessment data was collected from each site to assess the impacts of COH and how effectively the pilots met the aim of increasing capacity to reduce backlogs. HMCTS then undertook a short, targeted consultation with the legal professions on the key findings from the assessment of the pilot sites and a proposal to widen the use of COH across more Crown court centres.

Presentation with question and answer session 7 December 2020

Documents

COVID operating hours: consultation document

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COVID operating hours: assessment report

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COVID Operating Hours Crown Court jury trial pilot

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Published 27 July 2021
Last updated 1 September 2021 + show all updates
  1. Welsh language response documents published.

  2. First published.