Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the policy is of HM Courts and Tribunals Service on sending reminders by (a) text message and (b) email to defendants reminding them of the time and date of (i) court hearings and (ii) bail conditions.

Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) is committed to ensuring all parties to court proceedings are notified of any future hearing dates and where relevant bail conditions.

Our current practice is when parties are present in court the information is provided orally and in written form. When parties are not present in court, HMCTS will write informing parties of the new hearing date. Telephone contact is also used. Currently Criminal Courts do not use text or email as the primary means of passing information to parties.

We are building a justice system which is simpler, swifter and more efficient. By using modern technology we can meet the needs of everyone who uses our services now and in the future. For the criminal courts this will mean moving away from archaic IT systems to digitally enabled working where information is exchanged digitally with defendants and other court parties.