Government Plans 24-Hour Courts in Response to Widespread Public Disorder

According to reports the Government is planning 24-hour courts in response to widespread public disorder over the last few days.

Since last Monday's attack in Southport, there has been violent disorder on the streets of several UK cities including Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Stoke, Sunderland, Hull, Bristol and Belfast. The national news has been awash with images of shops being looted, cars being torched, windows being smashed and the police being pelted with bricks.

Last Monday's attack seems to have been the catalyst for this violence, but the causes run far deeper than that. There is clearly a lot of public discontent, which is resulting in the ugly scenes playing out across the nation.

Every person charged with a criminal offence in relation to this disorder needs to appear, in the first instance, before the Magistrates' Court.

According to the Telegraph, officials at the Ministry of Justice are currently engaged in talks with stakeholders with a view to operating Magistrates' Courts around the clock, if need be, in order to clear the anticipated influx of public order cases.

Similar measures were taken during the 2011 London riots, which saw widespread violence, looting and arson on the streets of the capital. The trouble later spread to several other UK cities. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer was the Director of Public Prosecutions at the time.

Speaking of the latest plans, a Government spokesman said: "There are contingency measures in place across the criminal justice system, to handle any unexpected and exceptional increases in demand on Magistrates' Courts.

"Despite the exceptional pressure that we have inherited in our prison system, we will always ensure the strongest possible action can be taken against thugs attempting to sow hate and disorder by attacking police officers, destroying businesses and intimidating communities."

I foresee difficulties with implementing out of hours court sessions in some parts of England and Wales.

In my own area, which thankfully hasn't experienced too much disorder, it is a struggle every day to staff the courts we currently run - those courts operating during the normal working day.

To staff courts late into the evening or overnight would be practically impossible. Judiciary would not be an issue - there will always be Magistrates willing to step up and do a bit extra; there will always be Deputy District Judges happy for an extra few hours' work (at £600 a day).

The problem would arise with HMCTS staff. You can't just say to someone "you're working until 10 pm tonight" when they leave every evening at 5 pm and have other responsibilities. You can't just say to a part-timer "you're needed tomorrow now" when they don't normally work that day. You couldn't say that to someone who was satisfied in the role, let alone someone feeling overworked and underappreciated as many of our HMCTS colleagues do.

Even if we could magic up the required staffing levels, I would anticipate difficulty in finding prosecutors and defence lawyers.

So 24-hour courts might seem good in theory, but might not work so well in practice.