Lord Chief Justice slaps down judge who attacked government’s ‘timely and careful’ pandemic courts response

Lord Chief Justice
Parliament

The Lord Chief Justice has backed the government over efforts to tackle the pandemic courts crisis while rejecting a fellow judge’s claims it had been “too little too late”.  

Judge Keith Raynor caused a storm in September with an outspoken judgment, accusing ministers of failing to sufficiently bankroll the courts to recover from the effects of coronavirus.  

But in a High Court ruling delivered yesterday, the Lord Chief Justice Lord Burnett of Maldon, sitting with Lord Justice Holroyde, said Judge Raynor’s conclusions were “not sustainable”.  

The senior judges said the Covid-19 pandemic was “unprecedented”, presenting the government and the courts with “formidable challenges” to keep the system on track.  

“There is an imperative need for all participants in court proceedings to remain safe", they said.  

“Jury trials, necessarily requiring the participation of a significant number of people even in a short, single-defendant trial, pose the most severe problems.  For multi-handed trials the problems multiply.”

They found HM Courts and Tribunal Service recovery plans, including measures to deliver more than 250 covid-secure jury trial rooms by the end of October, show that “timely and careful steps were taken” in spite of “palpable nervousness surrounding the process”.  

He insisted the government had not met its duty to deliver justice “regardless of cost”.  

Plexiglass screens have been installed in courts around the country
MoJ

But the Lord Chief Justice said Judge Raynor had wrongly focused on funding for the courts. 

“The problems in accelerating the capacity of the system to hold jury trials have been practical and logistical, rather than financial.  

“The evidence shows that additional funding has been secured and that further funding is being sought to support the continued expansion of the number of court rooms capable of holding a jury trial whilst social distancing remains a requirement.”

He said two tranches of money have been provided to the Ministry of Justice, £142m in July and £83m in September, to go towards court adaptations, extra ‘Nightingale’ courts, and the recruitment of 1,600 extra members of staff.  

Discussions have also been ongoing over an extra £30 million for a further 40 Nightingale Courts.  

The senior judges found that Judge Raynor had relied on his own internet research about how justice is being maintained in other countries, without taking submissions from lawyers, and he had not properly explored suggestions of courtrooms in empty public buildings.  

“In all these suggestions the judge gave no opportunity for the legal and practical implications of what he was proposing to be considered by the parties before him”, they said, adding that it was “unsurprising” that evidence from the MoJ to the High Court had been that his ideas were variously, “not feasible, impractical or not preferable to the options being pursued”.

The court ruled that Judge Raynor’s decision on custody time limits was “not open to him”, while upholding a separate decision to extend custody time limits for a different defendant.  

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