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Friday 21 February 2025
A weekly round-up of the latest news and information about courts and tribunals
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Our outreach programme offers law students opportunities to observe court sittings in their local courts and gain awareness of the different roles and career opportunities across HMCTS. This week we partnered with Reading University to hold a speed mooting competition for students.
Students were given a legal scenario and had 5 minutes each to present their pre-prepared legal argument to a District Judge, the High Sheriff of Berkshire and one of our Senior Legal Managers. Students received first-hand experience of delivering legal sentencing and receiving feedback from a judge. All participants received a certificate and we presented a trophy to the winner.
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Our nationwide digital service in County Courts boosts efficiency, minimises delays and saves time for our court users, providing them with real-time updates and 24/7 access.
Our latest blog describes how we have worked to remove unnecessary paperwork and streamline processes, and highlights what will come next for civil courts.
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The use of the Online Civil Money Claims (OCMC) service will become compulsory for legal representatives issuing and responding to eligible claims made under Practice Direction 51R in Spring 2025.
Benefits include 24/7 case access, email notifications about case activity and the ability to issue and respond to a claim, view judge directions, make an application, upload evidence in support and view final orders.
OCMC also eliminates wait times for the receipt and issue of paper claims and responses. Organisations should be registered as a professional user on MyHMCTS.
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The family Pathfinder pilot is helping to transform family courts by reducing conflict, prioritising children and speeding up decisions.
In a recent blog, Peter Curran, Specialist Family Leader for Wales shares his experience of working in a Pathfinder court.
He explores the Pathfinder pilot, its benefits and how it helps to protect children during what may already be challenging times for them.
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There is still time to register for the next probate service drop-in session taking place at North Shields County Court on Wednesday 12 March 2025 from 11:30am to 12:30pm.
This session is an opportunity for local probate professionals to meet the team, find out more about the service and hear about planned improvements.
For more information and to register your attendance, please email nsfamilybmt@justice.gov.uk.
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