{"id":21298,"date":"2022-03-03T03:20:49","date_gmt":"2022-03-03T08:20:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/?p=21298"},"modified":"2022-03-03T03:20:49","modified_gmt":"2022-03-03T08:20:49","slug":"covid-half-of-england-and-wales-nightingale-courts-to-close-within-weeks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/2022\/03\/03\/covid-half-of-england-and-wales-nightingale-courts-to-close-within-weeks\/","title":{"rendered":"Covid: Half of England and Wales Nightingale Courts to close within weeks"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Almost half of the temporary Nightingale Courts set up at the start of the pandemic are to close, the Ministry of Justice has announced.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Temporary courts were opened in hotels and conference suites to help manage the massive backlog in cases, which has worsened since Covid hit.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Eleven of the centres will close within weeks, but another 12 in England and Wales will stay open for one more year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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These will mainly focus on reducing waiting times for criminal trials.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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There are around 59,000 criminal trials waiting to go before a judge – and recent figures show the average time between reporting an offence and a verdict being given is now longer than ever.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Nightingale Courts opened in 2020 because many centres were too small to ensure safe social distancing between lawyers, witnesses, defendants and staff.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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