Under the provisions of the Courts Service Act 1998, management of the courts, including the provision of accommodation for court sittings, is the responsibility of the Courts Service, which is independent in exercising its functions. However, in order to be of assistance to the Deputy, I have had enquiries made and the Courts Service has provided the following update on this matter.
Covid-19 has affected the way court lists are managed. Prior to the pandemic, I am informed that a Judge would have a callover of cases at the start of the court list to prioritise the running order of the court. Court users would then wait in the courthouse for their case to be called. Social distancing requirements have changed this way of working. I understand that court lists are now normally staggered with specific times slots assigned to cases. The new arrangements allow the courts to deal with as many cases as possible while ensuring public health guidelines are enforced.
However, court cases do not always run on schedule as some cases can run longer or finish quicker than anticipated. While this may cause some inconvenience to court users, it remains the safest option to manage court proceedings during the pandemic and ensure that people can have their cases heard.
I am informed that Ennis court lists operate on this model and generally court lists have been managed safely and successfully by implementing the new procedures. However, I understand from the Courts Service that the office recently had an issue at a court sitting where a court list was not staggered and this regrettably did lead to inconvenience for some court users. Extra space was opened up to accommodate as many people in the courthouse as could safely be accommodated and arrangements were made with some court users having to leave and return later in the day. I am advised that office management has subsequently ensured that staff understand the importance of staggering court lists and it is expected that this incident should not reoccur.
The Courts Service further informs me that it cannot establish a text alert system for court users as the Courts Service does not gather or receive mobile phone details of court users in the normal course of business. As such, the Courts Service's ICT systems cannot facilitate a text alert system. The Courts Service has also identified data protection issues, which may also arise if this suggestion was implemented.
The Courts Service are satisfied that the measures that they have in place will ensure that this type of incident should not reoccur.
