More courts join the Professional Users’ Access Scheme

Over 40 more courts joined the scheme in January which completes the national roll out with the exception of 12 sites, seven of which will join the scheme soon.

Working together to keep justice going

A blog from our CEO about the safest way possible to work to keep justice going for every complainant, victim, witness and defendant during the coronavirus pandemic.

‘Court safety for legal professionals’ webinar recording

Hosted by HMCTS senior managers last week, the recording is accompanied by a summary of responses to questions not answered during the live session.

Rapid flow testing pilot begins in Manchester

Over the next four weeks tests will be offered to all court users, including staff, judiciary and legal professionals attending Manchester Civil Justice Centre.

Keeping court custody suites safe

An HMCTS blog outlining the measures in place when producing defendants to a court hearing from prison during the pandemic.

Extra £40m to help victims during pandemic and beyond

Victims of rape and domestic abuse will be helped by a major funding boost for specialist support services.

Defence solicitors and barristers need to register for Common Platform accounts before they attend hearings at early adopter courts.

£3.1 million announced by the MoJ for support to those representing themselves in court, as funding is now fully awarded to 11 projects supporting vulnerable people.

HMCTS published the latest management information used for understanding workload volumes and timeliness at a national level, to November 2020.

HMCTS strategy lead, writing for Apolitical, outlines how they implement changes to digital services to modernise the courts and tribunals system.

HMCTS processes for reporting COVID-19 incidents to professional court users, as well as court and tribunal staff, is available now.

All court users should refer to our escalation route to raise any issues or concerns about what they see and experience when visiting our buildings.

Guidance on applying for a deferral or excusal when summoned for jury service during the pandemic has been refreshed on GOV.UK.

We've published guidance for those providing evidence as a witness during the outbreak, including what to expect at court and where to access local support.

Three more Nightingale Courts opened last month, in Hull, Cirencester and Stafford, joining the national effort to tackle the impact of coronavirus.

We continue to keep our GOV.UK pages updated and to issue weekly reminders about the latest guidance through our operational updates.