Time to reverse local court closures, Dominc Raab, to end this scandalous injustice faced by victims – The Yorkshire Post says

Emerging democracies like Ukraine used to be envious of this country’s judicial system and how it was rooted in local courts because of the dictum that ‘justice must not only be done, but must also be seen to be done”.

But this has been compromised by a revolving door of Ministers – Dominic Raab is the eighth Justice Secretary in 10 years and the fact that a certain Chris Grayling is the longest office-holder in this time speaks for itself.

And the consequence of the past decade’s cost-cutting is justice becoming both delayed – and remote – as the closure of courts coincides with an ever growing backlog of cases.

Now Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee points to a 400 per cent increase since the pandemic in the number of serious cases taking over a year before actually being heard in crown courts.

These delays undermine trust in the police following a succession of scandals and claims of institutional misogyny, but they’re particularly cruel for victims of violent crimes, whose lives are on hold until the conclusion of proceedings. It should also be said that these delays are traumatic for the innocent trying to clear their names.

Yet, as the PAC accuses the Ministry of Justice of having a “meagre ambition” when it comes to clearing the backlog, this newspaper today urges Mr Raab to set the record straight and come up with a far more robust plan to tackle this burning injustice, including the reopening of former courts where necessary.

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