Following a plea from members, we have helped to persuade Barkingside magistrates' court to set up an advocates' room to help duty solicitors work more efficiently and securely when at court.
Duty solicitors working out of Barkingside magistrates' court got in touch with the Law Society via the Practice Advice Service to ask if we could assist them in having their local court accept the need for there to be an advocates' room included in the plans for building work happening at the court. They had initially been told they couldn't have one.
The defence solicitors in the area initially had trouble persuading those in charge at Barkingside magistrates' court of the need to have access to facilities such as a secure advocates' room. The provision of such a room enables advocates to work properly and efficiently when at court, which is in the interests of everyone, not least the court itself and the clients.
Some solicitors were asked to go outside to have their lunch and the problem was exacerbated by the fact that the court canteen was rarely open.
Richard Atkinson, chair of the Law Society's Criminal Law Committee, and Janet Arkinstall in legal policy had a meeting with the head of HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) security, and asked that this matter be added to the agenda.
In December Janet Arkinstall received an email from the cluster manager in N&W London HMCS to say that the operations manager at Barkingside had undertaken to incorporate an advocates' room for defence solicitors. They explained that there are some building works going on there at present which will be finished by the end of the financial year and they are very hopeful that an advocates' room will be available. It will be similar to other courts in that it can be a lockable (door-coded room) for use by advocates.
The lockable advocates' room will go some way to improving how defence solicitors can work at the court.
The 'Stop Delaying Justice' initiative, with its emphasis on dealing with matters at the first hearing, necessitates the taking of instructions at court such that duty solicitors will inevitably spend more time in the court environs.
Moreover, as the Crown Prosecution Service works towards a fully digital criminal justice system, the need for defence advocates at court to have somewhere secure to store their expensive electronic devices in future will become even more pressing, when it may be necessary for an advocate to be separated from their laptop. The 'disappearance' of electronic equipment belonging to defence practitioners would clearly be a major setback to that programme.