Civil Justice Council reiterates concern equal access to justice not obtainable for all litigants in county courts

Ethnic minority users of the county court service are disproportionately disadvantaged by the system’s delays, the Civil Justice Council (CJC) has said.

In evidence to the Commons’ Justice Select Committee’s inquiry into the work of county courts, the CJC said: “If the county court is to secure justice effectively, equal access to justice must be obtainable to all litigants, irrespective of where in England and Wales they are and in which court centre they litigate.

“The CJC has been and remains concerned that the county court is not able to do so to the extent that it should.”

It said when courts were ranked by the average number of days taken to reach a first full hearing, eight in 10 of the bottom 20% were in London or the south east of England.

“Therefore, ethnic minority users are disproportionately affected by the court level and regional timeliness variations, which has clear implications for access,” the CJC said.

The body was also “concerned about the quality of available data” for county courts generally and said “a common theme in much of the CJC’s work is the absence of reliable and high-quality data across the civil justice system”.

It said reliable data was limited on the number of self-represented litigants, but “the available evidence indicates that more and more are appearing before the courts as a result of cuts to legal aid services, and the current economic climate”.

Further assistance could be given to these litigants by better use of technology and online resources, the CJC said.

Inadequate use of technology was a general problem, the CJC found, noting county court still send out orders by post where there is a legal representative on record.

“Modes of communication have changed, and the justice system should adapt to accommodate this,” the CJC said.

“The county court should make greater use of email and other online services; not only would this reduce unnecessary cost and administrative burden, but documents are more likely to reach individuals if they can be served electronically.”

Mark Smulian