Britain’s courts are potential hotbeds for coronavirus, senior judge warns

Britain’s courts are not enforcing social distancing and are potential coronavirus contamination hotbeds, a senior judge has told MailOnline.

Speaking on the condition of anonymity, the seasoned county court judge described hearings where litigants were squeezed around tables in breach of the government’s two-metre proximity guidance.

A ‘woeful’ technology outfit in most civil courts means in many cases video-link hearings are not possible.

They also claimed that the roughly 200 people who troop into the court building daily are not asked if they are ill. 

The Ministry of Justice insisted it has ramped up its court cleaning operation, but the judge claimed, in their court, people were not even being offered any hand sanitizer.  

The judge lamented the ‘disconnect’ between those steering the court’s response to the health emergency, who ‘do not understand what is going on down at the coalface’.

They told MailOnline: ‘We have nobody at the door asking if people are ill. There are waiting rooms where we have no control over the number of people.

‘It’s open justice, so anyone can come into the court.’

A man in Greenwich Park, London, wears a mask amid rampant social distancing measures to stem the spread of the UK’s coronavirus outbreak

They added: ‘I feel much safer than most because judges have their own entrances, but even so I’m passed grubby bits of paper and I don’t know where it’s been.’  

Some ‘proper’ court rooms allowed for more space between judges, lawyers and litigants, but the judge described hearings cramped in small rooms where it was impossible to move further apart.

The warning came as Boris Johnson doubled down his calls for social distancing and cautioned not doing so would overwhelm the NHS, which creaking under the pressure of accelerating cases.

High courts and criminal courts are moving to conducting cases via video-link where possible.

However, the judge ruled this out because ‘our technology is woefully inadequate to use it.’

In any instance, they said ‘you can’t really do a three or four hour hearing on Skype’.

The judge recommended postponing non-urgent cases until the pandemic is wrestled under control.

They said they had raised their contamination concerns to the court manager, who had passed it higher up the chain of command.

The warning came as Boris Johnson doubled down his calls for social distancing and cautioned not doing so would overwhelm the NHS, which creaking under the pressure of accelerating cases (PM pictured during an update meeting in the Cabinet room yesterday)

But they claimed worries had not been acted upon from those in the court service who are not wise to the true situation in the courts.

They said: ‘The nub is that nobody really understands what’s going on down at the coalface’.

Court business is also threatening to grind to a halt, with bailiffs reluctant to go out on eviction jobs for fear of contamination, they said.

A HM Courts and Tribunals Service spokesperson said: ‘We are minimising the risk to everyone in our courts by stopping non-urgent work and increasing telephone and online hearings. 

‘The situation is under constant review and we are hugely grateful to all those working hard to keep our justice system running.’

A source told MailOnline that certain hearings were being prioritised, while the use of technology was being encouraged.               

A spokesman for the Lord Chief Justice said: ‘The Lord Chief Justice and the senior judiciary have been balancing the need for justice to continue with the need to keep people safe. 

‘As the pandemic has quickly developed over recent days they will continue to review advice as the situation changes. 

‘As the advice to judges on the judiciary website makes clear, judges are being told to be flexible and innovative with technology of all kinds.’