Criminal court backlog
Coverage of the latest criminal court backlog figures continues in several more regional publications including LondonWorld, Dorset Echo, Lancashire Telegraph and Worksop Guardian
The number of outstanding cases in the Crown Court – 66,547 – is the highest on record.
Law Society president Nick Emmerson said: “The criminal justice system is withering at the root due to decades of underinvestment and the government’s failure to tackle the crisis.
“Delays in the courts are being compounded by a chronic shortage of lawyers and judges, overrun prisons and courts in disrepair. The increase in the number of people on remand for long periods awaiting trial is extremely concerning.”
Crisis in the family court system
Family Law News and Today’s Family Lawyer report on how rising backlogs in the family court system continue to delay justice for families and children.
Law Society president Nick Emmerson said: “There were more than 80,000 children caught up in the family backlogs last year. We are seeing similar numbers this year. It is unacceptable that thousands of children are waiting almost a year to find out who they will be living with long-term because of delays in the family court system.”
Wills reform
Our response to the Law Commission’s report on wills reform to tackle ‘predatory’ marriages is covered by the Gazette and Legal Futures
Law Society president Nick Emmerson said: “It is alarming that a fifth of solicitors have expressed concern about clients being subject to financial abuse through predatory marriage.
“Further action is required to address predatory marriage and prevent exploitation of vulnerable people through the marriage and wills process. Clearly, there is no consensus as to whether changing the law as proposed is the right way forward and more debate of the pros and cons is needed.
Temporary accommodation
Today’s Family Lawyer reports our concerns that thousands of children face being evicted from their homes and spending Christmas in temporary accommodation when early legal advice could have avoided this.
Law Society president Nick Emmerson said: “It is unacceptable that thousands of children and their families will have to celebrate Christmas in temporary accommodation, when they may have been able to remain in their homes if early legal advice had been provided.”
Legal Ombudsman Service complaints backlog
Today’s Conveyancer covers our call for the Legal Ombudsman Service (LeO) to focus on addressing the backlog of cases and reducing average customer journey times.
Law Society president Nick Emmerson said: “Whilst we are pleased that LeO has made some recent inroads towards reducing the backlog of cases, not least because of the new early resolution process, the Ombudsman continues to struggle to deliver on its primary statutory function of providing a speedy complaints resolution scheme.
“The customer journey time for resolving complaints currently is around seven to eight and a half months, which is too long.”
Also worth a read:
- Allen & Overy launch an AI tool for contract negotiation, in an effort to “disrupt the legal market before someone disrupts us” – FT (£)
- MoJ accused of “policymaking on the back of a fag packet” as proposals around the funding of civil courts face scrutiny – Gazette
- U-turn on salary threshold for family visa – Guardian
- Susskind steps down after 25 years as LCJ’s tech adviser – Legal Futures