Britain is expanding two court programmes designed to move criminal cases through congested lists more quickly: concentrated “short-trial” sittings and technology that allows judges to hear matters assigned from another region.
The short-trial model groups similar cases into intensive blocks so that judges, prosecutors and court staff can work through a defined category with less duplication. It was tested at the Old Bailey in cases involving assaults on emergency workers and is being extended to Snaresbrook and Croydon in London, as well as sites in Liverpool, Preston and Nottingham.
The Ministry of Justice said almost half of a backlog of nearly 500 emergency-worker assault cases had concluded during the Old Bailey programme. Courts have also used the method for charges involving possession of bladed articles. The figures are administrative results, not an independent assessment of whether the model changes plea patterns, trial quality or appeal rates.
A separate remote-hearing pilot lets a judge in one part of England or Wales take a case from a court under greater pressure elsewhere. Defendants, lawyers, witnesses and court staff can join through video links. Participants retain the right to ask the judge for a face-to-face hearing, and wider use remains subject to evaluation and judicial approval.
The two programmes are being presented as capacity measures rather than changes to the legal test for any offence. They arrive as the Courts and Tribunals Bill returns to Parliament. The government says it will remove proposals that would have restricted jury trial, leaving almost all Crown Court cases eligible to be heard by a jury.
The practical question is whether moving judges and grouping cases can reduce delay without making hearings feel remote in the broader sense. Open justice, access for vulnerable participants and a meaningful ability to seek attendance in person will determine how that balance works beyond the pilots.
Ministry of Justice short-trial announcement
Ministry of Justice remote-hearing announcement
