UK Justice Committee launches inquiry on County Court delays News
Diliff, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
UK Justice Committee launches inquiry on County Court delays

The UK Justice Committee announced Tuesday it will relaunch a major inquiry to examine mounting delays in the County Court system. This follows new data that reveals the lengthening of trial wait times in both small claims and multi- or fast-track cases.

The Committee Chair Andy Slaughter said the inquiry will seek to address the issue of County Court delays and resource shortages. It will focus on areas such as the role of technology and data, judicial and staff capacity, and the experiences of litigants in person. The committee will also consider the effect of recent legislative reforms, the adequacy of current fee structures, the data available on the County Court’s performance, and more broadly, why previous recommendations have failed to reverse the trend. Slaughter states:

Recurrent concerns around delays, resourcing and capacity have persisted for years, affecting the lives of all those who rely on a functioning County Court to deliver timely justice. It’s right that the Justice Committee early in this Parliament examines in detail why these issues remain unresolved and takes evidence from those impacted. As the latest claims data shows, the time taken from claim to hearing for multi/fast track claims is still much longer than the pre-covid baseline.

In the UK, civil claims are allocated as either small claims, fast track, or multi-track. Claims under £10,000 go to small claims, those from £10,000 to £25,000 follow the fast track, and anything exceeding £25,000 falls under the multi-track process. According to the latest statistics, the average time for small claims to reach trial is 50.6 weeks, while multi or fast-track claims take 79.3 weeks. This is an increase of 14 and 20.2 weeks, respectively, from 2019.

Matthew Maxwell Scott, who leads the Association of Consumer Support Organisations, welcomed the committee’s move. He states:

Civil justice continues to be delayed and therefore denied for thousands, but with a new government there is an opportunity to turn things around. Although criminal justice receives all the attention from the media and politicians, it is the civil courts where the vast majority of citizens interact with the law. We need fresh impetus from the latest civil justice minister, clear targets and expertise brought in from across the sector to work out how to get the delays down and confidence in the system back up.

The inquiry was previously announced in October 2023 but was halted by last year’s general election.

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