06/07/2026
“Minimising the impact of delay on victims, defendants and witnesses is the guiding principle of this new national approach to listing. It will help to ensure fairness, consistency and efficiency in listing of cases across our criminal courts, helping to tackle the backlog of criminal cases."
A new Practice Direction on Listing in the Criminal Courts has been published - which will support criminal courts to prioritise cases and reduce backlogs. The Lady Chief Justice has also issued new Remote Participation Guidance on live links in Criminal Courts.
Watch her and Lord Justice Edis discuss how the new arrangements will support a more consistent approach to listing and remote participation and how they will help improve efficiency, access to justice and the effective management of criminal cases.
Find out more on our website: https://www.judiciary.uk/guidance-and-resources/new-practice-direction-on-listing-will-support-criminal-courts-to-prioritise-cases-and-reduce-backlogs/
Video Transcript:
Remote participation is an established and important part of proceedings across all jurisdictions. Used appropriately, it can improve efficiency and access to justice and it can reduce delays. In 2024, I asked the deputy senior presiding judge, Lady Justice Yip, to carry out a cross-jurisdictional review of remote participation and to develop updated guidance for each jurisdiction.
In early June this year, this guidance was issued for our family and civil courts and for tribunals. and I will shortly be issuing revised guidance on the use of live links in criminal proceedings in the Crown and Magistrate's courts. This guidance has been developed from Lady Justice Yip's wide-ranging review involving extensive consultation with judges including magistrates. It is a real testament to the hardworking, problem solving and collaborative nature of our judiciary. So what does all this mean in practice? At the heart of the new guidance is a clear national framework for the use of live links in criminal proceedings. Judges will now work within a presumptive framework that identifies if a particular type of hearing should or should not be conducted remotely. Does it require participants instead to attend in person? It means that in many cases no application to attend by live link will be required at all. Instead, a live link direction will routinely be issued at the outset of a hearing. In short, the guidance provides judges with a clear and a consistent starting point whilst always preserving judicial discretion to depart from the framework where required in the interests of justice. It's designed to reduce delay, make better use of resources, and support more effective case management by removing unnecessary applications and introducing a structured approach. It should also reduce administrative burdens on judges and court staff alike. It's intended also to support improved access to justice by ensuring that remote technology is used where it adds value whilst guarding against inappropriate use that could cause an obstruction to justice. And it should free up judges time to do the work that they do best, interpreting and applying the law in each individual case without fear or favor. Furthermore, by embedding greater consistency across the system, it will help to ensure that all those who use the courts can have confidence in their fairness.
New guidance on remote participation is just one way in which we are continually improving the work of the criminal courts. We will also shortly be publishing a new criminal practice direction. This will establish for the first time a national listing framework, a judiciary-led standardized system for listing crown court cases. The core objective of the new practice direction is to ensure that cases are prioritized for a hearing or trial with proper regard to the human impact of delay for participants and the fair and efficient use of judicial and court resources. Abiding by the framework will require active monitoring of cases readiness, including engaging in structured pre-trial processes. This should help judges to ensure that trials are only listed when ready or expected to be ready and in turn reduce the number of ineffective trials. ~
Upon receipt of the practice direction, each crown court will develop their own local listing plan in compliance with it. This will improve communications between the courts and professions so that accurate and up-to-date information is available when taking listing decisions. This is a significant step in tackling the backlog of cases in our criminal courts, allowing judges to better manage capacity and make informed listing decisions. It will allow a more coordinated national and regional system so that where appropriate, cases can be transferred to make best use of court's capacity. And most importantly, it will ensure further fairness for court users by providing national consistency in the criminal courts. While this guidance is a welcome move forwards, let me assure you that listing remains as ever a judicial function. Judges will continue to have oversight of their own listing and be able to use discretion in making listing decisions.
I want to thank all those who have been involved in developing the crime guidance on remote listing in particular Lady Justice Yip and the new criminal practice direction in particular Lord Justice Edis. Together these documents should provide clarity and ease of use for our judiciary and improved access to and confidence in the criminal justice system for all who need it.
