England: Judges concerned that courts modernisation programme ‘driven by austerity’

A survey of over 10,000 judges has revealed concerns that the £1.2 billion courts modernisation programme in England and Wales is being “driven by austerity and the need to achieve savings”.

The Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, Lord Burnett of Maldon, and the Senior President of Tribunals, Lord Justice Ryder, wrote an update on the Judicial Ways of Working 2022 (JWoW) survey for the Judicial Intranet website.

In the update, seen by Scottish Legal News, they said concern about austerity was one of the “common themes that are emerging” from the survey responses.

It states: “There is an openness to modernisation and new ways of working, provided the foundations of justice are upheld. There is cautious positivity about the increased use of digital systems provided that these are reliable. The use of technology is welcomed but there is also a strong sense that open justice, access to justice, local justice should not be compromised. Success will depend on carefully planned design and delivery of Reform projects.

“There is, however, some concern about the intent of the Reform Programme and the ability for HMCTS to deliver necessary and desirable changes. Some expressed the view that Reform seemed to be driven by austerity and the need to achieve savings, rather than by providing an improved service for the public, the judiciary or staff. Some also expressed concern about how transformation could be delivered without causing disruption to courts, the judiciary, and court users.

“Thinking about and planning for tomorrow should not come at the expense of delivering justice in the proceedings that come before us today. Among other things, serious concerns about the current condition of estates and staffing numbers have been made clear.”

In a series of tweets, Penelope Gibbs, director of the charity Transform Justice, said the two most senior judges in England and Wales had “put a brave face on the results” and called for a fuller report of the survey responses to be published.

Ms Gibbs tweeted: “Really glad the judiciary have been consulted and their concerns have been listened to. Just wish the judges had had access to up-to-date research on effect of digital on access to justice (research which needs to be commissioned by government) and that the public had been consulted (having been provided with this up-to-date research) on digital court reform.

“I feel in a democratic system the public as well as the judges should be shaping this court reform programme, and lawyers should have been formally consulted too.”