Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have plans for courts to sit at weekends and other times outside of normal sitting hours and sitting days to clear the backlog of cases awaiting trial.

Courts are already sitting at, or close to, maximum judicial capacity in almost every jurisdiction, with record investment this year, and a record allocation of sitting days in the Crown Court. It is worth remembering that judicial maximum does not equal the maximum the system can run. The Government must be mindful of managing the wider system capacity - the availability not just of judges to sit in the Crown court but of the lawyers, prosecutors, legal aid and defence barristers that underpin the rest of the system.

Existing allocations can and will be accommodated within existing court operating hours. Magistrates’ courts already routinely sit on Saturdays and bank holidays.