Virtual court scheme too expensive, says report

Rolling out virtual courts would cost more than it would save, a report found today.

A pilot project, in which defendants appeared via video link from a police station for their first appearance at a magistrates' court, cost £247 more per case than the traditional court process, the study for the Ministry of Justice found.

The year-long scheme also raised concerns over the physical separation of defendants, their lawyers and prosecutors, a higher rate of adjournments, and the perception of delivering "hasty justice" in fixed 15-minute slots.

With 1.79 million defendants proceeded against at magistrates' courts last year, the additional costs would have come to £490.5 million over 2009 if each defendant appeared separately.

While savings were made in prisoner transportation costs, prosecution costs and an improvement in the rate of defendants failing to appear for their first hearing, "the savings made by the pilot were exceeded by the additional costs generated by the virtual court process".

These included high set-up and running costs of virtual technology, higher legal aid costs, additional staffing costs and an additional resource burden on police custody officers and detention officers who oversaw the hearings in custody suites.

"Economic modelling suggests that a roll-out of virtual courts across London based on the structure and performance of the pilot would cost more than it would save over a 10-year period," the report said.

"Even when controlling for some of the most costly pilot variables, delivering a system that makes significant cost savings is still likely to be a challenge."

Defendants also appeared to take the process "less seriously than they would if they appeared in person", the report said.

But despite the concerns, virtual courts "could be successfully used to conduct a first hearing in the majority of cases", it said.

An alternative approach to the pilot's system of four 15-minute hearings each hour, broadening the use of technology and a more integrated system between different criminal justice agencies should all be considered before any roll-out of the scheme, the report said.

The research also raised concerns over "the physical separation of defendants (and sometimes their solicitors) and the courtroom", making it harder for defence and prosecution lawyers to communicate before and during hearings.

While the virtual court pilot in two magistrates' courts and 15 police stations in London and north Kent "was successful in significantly reducing the average time from charge to first hearing", there was also a higher rate of adjournments, creating a need for more hearings.

And some magistrates and district judges said running fixed 15-minute court slots was "risking delivering 'hasty justice', or a perception of such".

The rate of guilty pleas and custodial sentences were also higher in the pilot scheme compared with the traditional court system.

Justice Minister Jonathan Djanogly said: "The Government is committed to reforming the courts service to deliver a modern, efficient justice system. Greater use of video technology will play an important part in that work.

"The purpose of the virtual courts pilot was to test whether the process could work and whether it was worth further development. The evaluation has shown this to be the case.

"Virtual courts continue to operate for a trial period in existing locations with a rigorous focus on achieving value for money, improving the operating model and further evaluating their effectiveness."