Source · Select Committees · Justice Committee
Recommendation 2
2
Paragraph: 12
There have been positive developments in providing online solutions to providing court services, but pending...
Recommendation
There have been positive developments in providing online solutions to providing court services, but pending full roll out of HMCTS’s cloud video platform, we recommend that the Ministry of Justice sets out the steps it is taking to ensure that lay parties to hearings have access to the technology they need so that they can communicate well, and confidentially, with their lawyers. We also recommend that the Ministry of Justice reviews how well remote hearings have worked for all participants in all jurisdictions before rolling them out further.
Paragraph Reference:
12
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
• We will continue to review conditions for practitioners of all backgrounds as the volume of work in courts resumes to pre-COVID levels. • As part of the next phase of the ongoing Criminal Legal Aid Review there will be an independently-led review which will review the entire criminal legal aid system. This review will aim to ensure that defendants receive high quality representation by a diverse set of practitioners, both now and in the future, and will consider measures to improve the diversity of the criminal legal aid profession.