Mar

Court digitalisation will improve access to justice claims government

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Court digitalisation will improve access to justice claims government

The government claim they will spend more than £50 million to digitise the county courts to handle the court backlog.

Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Secretary David Lammy spoke following a report by Sir Brian Leveson, who warned the justice system is in crisis.

The news comes as Landlord Action figures reveal that landlords are facing the longest court waiting times in 20 years.

Improve access to justice

Mr Lammy claimed the government is committed to structural reform of the court system and will help drive investment in the court system by investing more than £50 million to progress digitalisation of the court system

He said: “This investment is not just about big business. The investment is designed to improve access to justice by cutting complexity and cost, and making it easier to resolve common everyday civil problems, such as when a business is failing to pay a supplier for goods provided or a dispute between a landlord and tenant over the condition of a property.

“Over a million claims have now been issued on our existing digital services for making money claims and damages claims. Cases consistently progress three times quicker through their early stages using these modern, user-focused services.

“The government is working with the Online Procedure Rule Committee, to develop rules for online proceedings that are simple to use, accessible and fair, fit for the digital age.”

Government has not provided clarity

The government have previously claimed a digitised court system will help landlords. However, as previously reported by Property118, the National Residential Landlords (NRLA) has warned the government has not provided clarity on how the courts will be prepared for the digital possession process.

Ben Beadle, chief executive of the NRLA, said: “At Report Stage of the Renters’ Rights Act, the Housing Minister told the Commons that: “Court readiness is essential to the successful operation of the new system”. We agree with the Minister.

“However, the government has yet to define what it means by the courts being “ready”. Without that clarity, it is unclear what the planned digitisation of possession cases is intended to deliver or how success will be measured.

“More broadly, whilst the Master of the Rolls has indicated that the “first iteration” of the new digital platform to process possession cases is expected to be released in late Spring 2026, it remains unclear what this will look and feel like in practice for tenants and landlords, or the extent to which it will speed up the processing of legitimate possession claims.”

Figures by the Ministry of Justice reveal it took courts an average of more than eight months to process and enforce landlord claims last year.

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