RT Article
T1 The crisis in the courts: before and beyond Covid
JF The British journal of criminology
VO 62
IS 4
SP 1036
OP 1035
A1 Godfrey, Barry S.
A2 Richardson, Jane C.
A2 Walklate, Sandra 1950-
LA English
YR 2022
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1808712412
AB One year after the first COVID lockdown the backlog at the Magistrates’ and Crown Courts together totalled approximately half a million cases. This article reports on the impact of court delays on domestic abuse victims using data from the ESRC-funded ‘Shadow Pandemic’ project. Using this data as illustrative, the paper goes on to discuss the causes of delays in all criminal cases, challenging the assertion that COVID caused the backlog. Instead, the paper contends that austerity measures have been the underlying cause with COVID merely extending the scale of the crisis. The paper then questions whether post-COVID recovery plans are realistic, particularly in relation to any increase in remote hearings and out of court disposals. It concludes that a more fundamental shift needs to take place in dealing with criminal cases to enable speedier and more effective access to justice for victims of all crimes including domestic abuse.
K1 Magistrates Courts
K1 Crown Courts
K1 Covid
K1 Domestic abuse
K1 Backlog
K1 Jury trial
DO 10.1093/bjc/azab110