Yahoo News 'Multiple, serious IT failures' leaves law courts across England and Wales in chaos
A nationwide IT failure is causing chaos in courts across England and Wales, lawyers have warned.
The computer system breakdown, which reportedly affected hundreds of court, has caused delays and cancellations to trials and could even see criminals go free, The Times reported.
According to the newspaper, lawyers warned that defendants could be detained longer than is legally allowed, meaning that would have to be released before their trial.
Writing on its Twitter account on Monday, the Criminal Bar Association (CBA) said: “Criminal Justice in meltdown: Crisis point”, saying the computer failure had affected court listings, secure email, probation, prisons, trial recording and access to cases.
Criminal Justice in meltdown: Crisis point
All cases are digital now. Digital systems failure across the board
Listings, CJSM secure email, Court IT, Probation, Prisons, central call lines, trial recording (Darts), case access down
Has CJS been hacked?@HMCTSgovuk @CEOofHMCTS
— The CBA (@TheCriminalBar) January 22, 2019
The association’s chair Chris Henley QC said the system is “on its knees”, saying: “Savage cuts to the MOJ budget have serious consequences.
“The current IT collapse across the country is the latest example. Trials are being adjourned, the IT infrastructure is inaccessible in many places, electronic recording systems aren’t working, and barristers can’t access vital documents, because court wifi and secure e-mails aren’t working.
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“The system is on its knees. We, that is legal professionals, Judges and court staff, have to deal with the mess and it is witnesses, defendants, and their families, and jurors who suffered the consequences.
“The public and victims of crime end up being the biggest losers. Short term savings often result in wider costs to the public purse and cause a broken criminal justice system to fall further apart.
Finally the IT chaos in the courts hits the front pages.
But this is far from the first time the courts and the public have been let down by the MoJ’s abysmal computer systems. The questions now are how much is this persistent failure costing, and who is going to be accountable? pic.twitter.com/exf5qAJHdO
— The Secret Barrister (@BarristerSecret) January 23, 2019
He added: “Crumbling court buildings are bad enough for court users – both the public and criminal practitioners – but digital failures can have far more profound consequences for all those awaiting trial.
“Prolonged IT failures do a disservice to the victims of crime and their families who may have already suffered the costs of delays from an already overstretched, chronically underfunded, broken criminal justice system.”
According to The Times, barristers reported problems at different crown courts, including difficulties enrolling jurors and issues accessing offenders’ records.
One lawyer, dubbed Secret Barrister, tweeted: “This is far from the first time the courts and the public have been let down by the MoJ’s abysmal computer systems. The questions now are how much is this persistent failure costing, and who is going to be accountable?”
The computer system, known as XHIBIT, has reportedly been dogged by delays since it was introduced in 2014.
The Ministry of Justice has reportedly apologised for the impact on court users and is investigating the issue.
