COVID CONCERNS

Criminal defence solicitors from Bristol are refusing to enter cells at the city's Magistrates' Court after Avon and Somerset Police stopped conducting virtual remand hearings. The police force had been an early adopter of the virtual hearings but now says they are not financially viable. However, solicitors argue that conditions in the cells are unsafe, with them required to work in very small, unventilated rooms. It is just one in a long succession of complaints that have been levied at the courts and tribunals service since March. 20 October 2020