Plan to keep some nightingale courts open until 2023

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) plans to close 11 nightingale courts within weeks but keep 12 others open for another year.

Temporary courts set up to cope with the backlog of court cases during the Covid-19 pandemic in Middlesbrough, Peterborough, Nottingham, Warwick, Manchester, Liverpool, Bolton, Chester and Winchester are all due to be shut down at the end of the month.

Others in Maidstone, Chichester, Telford, Wolverhampton, Birmingham, Leeds, Swansea, Cirencester and Fleetwood will all remain open until March 2023 as part of efforts to reduce the number of outstanding court cases waiting to be dealt with.

In London, court rooms set up in Prospero House, Barbican and Croydon will also stay open. But others in Petty France and Monument will close at the end of March and early April respectively.

Negotiations to find two more court rooms in London are ongoing.

Justice minister James Cartlidge said: “Nightingale courts continue to be a valuable weapon in the fight against the pandemic’s unprecedented impact on our courts, providing temporary extra capacity.

“Combined with other measures – such as removing the cap on crown court sitting days, more use of remote hearings, and increasing magistrate sentencing powers – we are beginning to see the backlog drop so victims can get the speedier justice they deserve.”