People attending court will be asked to wear face coverings in public areas of courts and tribunals buildings in England from Monday. HM Courts & Tribunals Service chief executive Susan Acland-Hood wrote to representative bodies yesterday announcing the measure, based on the latest advice from Public Health England on minimising Covid-19 risk. 

Controversial consent forms giving police access to phones and other devices in criminal cases are to be replaced, after they were criticised by the Information Commissioner’s Office. In 2019 the National Police Chiefs Council and Crown Prosecution Service announced they were introducing standardised consent forms for allowing access to phones and other devices. However, the Centre for Women’s Justice said the forms were unlawful, discriminatory and led to excessive and intrusive disclosure requests.

Curbs on jury trials would be an ‘assault on justice’ criminal lawyers have said, urging the government to use extra buildings as courts to clear the backlog.

The criminal justice system in England and Wales is facing a backlog of 40,000 criminal cases, which will not be solved even if all crown courts are brought into service under physical distancing rules, the Criminal Bar Association has warned.

Women who have been unfairly convicted or sentenced to jail are being denied the chance to redress miscarriages of justice because the appeals system in England and Wales is not fit for purpose, the law group Appeal has alleged as reported by the Guardian.  I

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