Magistrates’ court workers to strike over digital systems

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Members of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) are urging the government to rethink its plans to digitalise the courts through the launch of its Common Platform. The Common Platform system is a digital case management system designed to consolidate court data onto a single system. It was introduced in 2020 as part of the Ministry of Justice’s (MoJ) £1 billion efforts to digitalise the UK courts. The Common Platform allows all parties, including court staff, solicitors, barristers, the Crown Prosecution Service and members of the judiciary to access case information.

Unfortunately, critics have found that the Common Platform has created problems that obstruct the court and exacerbate court workers’ working conditions. The PCS union states that the Common Platform has increased workloads and negatively impacted court workers’ work/life balances. In the strike ballot of 180 PCS members, more than 90% voted in favour of strike action.

Meanwhile, MoJ data has revealed that the backlog of cases has increased by 200. Dominic Raab, the justice secretary, said that the figures revealed that barrister strikes have undermined attempts to combat court delays and forced victims to wait longer for justice.