Judgment delivered with room service
For every problem there is a solution: this certainly seems to be the mantra of Michael Gove, who recently suggested magistrates' courts travel first class to hotel suites to have hearings.
The justice secretary told MPs there was no intrinsic reason why magistrates should not sit, if it is thought appropriate, in a council chamber.
When asked whether court proceedings could then take place in hotels, Gove again said there was 'no intrinsic reason why it would have to be a public building'.
Well, there's good news for Gove. The day after he made the suggestion in front of the Justice Select Committee, a consultation paper on the operation of courts and tribunals was published, which seeks to close 91 courts throughout England and Wales. Hotel court hearings, here we come.
It's not known whether the Lord Chancellor was inspired by Dutch entrepreneur Jim Halfens, whose brainchild, the international DivorceHotel, allows couples to mediate in the privacy of hotel suites. Perhaps Halfens and Gove are swayed by the thought of chocolates on the pillows, an on-site spa and sauna, and, of course, room service.
One hopes that if hearings were to take place outside of the orthodox realms of magistrates' courts, there would be lawyers and litigants present, a self-defeating aim it would seem.
Following the second round of cuts to legal aid lawyers' fees, criminal solicitors and barristers nationwide have been on strike for nearly four weeks, causing chaos in some courts and police custody suites. Proposals to double court fees to a colossal £20,000 have also been published. Access to justice is becoming less of a right and more of a commodity, and an expensive one at that.
Does Gove want anyone to use the courts, regardless of where hearings take place?
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