1/
My response to this consultation re. closure of Medway County Court, from a family practitioner's point of view.

Who'd have thought I'd be defending Medway, eh?

Medway houses two CJ courts, 3 DJ rooms & 2 family hearing rooms https://consult.justice.gov.uk/digital-communications/future-of-medway-county-and-family-court/

2/ It is the busiest family court in the South East region, utilisation 75%.
It is far from perfect court building. Only a year or so ago, someone I know had a window from the building fall onto their car!
That aside, I have a real fondness for the place, the staff & Judges.

3/ Practitioners have known that the lease on Anchorage House was going to end. Concerns were raised about this back in 2019 & questioned where the alternative was going to be. Assurances were given that another court building within the area was being looked for.

4/ Over the years, Folkestone & Dover Mags have all closed to family work. Tunbridge Wells CC & Dartford Mags closed completely. Sevenoaks, Thanet CC and Medway Mags barely sit in family work.

In care cases, there are a disproportionate no. of vulnerable parties; those with

5/ disabilities, learning difficulties, struggling with mental health issues, battling addictions etc.

The consultation doc assumes attendance at 9.30. Most family cases listed at 10 require attendance at 9, directed by the Ct. So the very premise of the consultation is flawed.

6/ Let's just for one moment ignore that & assume attendance is required at 9.30. Court is a daunting place, esp for those who face the removal of their children or are battling for them to be returned. Assume they are even able to get to Court for 9.30 (I'll come back to this).

7/ They then have to settle, meet their advocate, sometimes for the first time before pouring their trust into them to deal with their case, which may or may not start at 10.

(Before someone asks why advocates can't meet their clients in advance, some do but this doesn't

8/ always happen, not because we're lazy etc. but because practically it is not always possible, e.g. in an urgent case where removal of a child is sought.)

Put yourself in that person's shoes for a moment. Now think of the journey they now might have had to take to

9/ even make it to Court.

Already, some clients face extremely long journeys to get to Court as a result of the closures already referred to.

Back in the day, a client in Folkestone who used to be able to have their case heard in Folkestone, now faces a 20 mile trip

10/ to delightful Canterbury. That can often take about an hour in the car due to traffic. Bus is no quicker.

Now pretend you live in Medway.

You're stressed, facing the removal of your children or you've been accused of having harmed a child. You have to get up silly o'clock

11/ to make that train that may or may not run. The connections are rubbish & you miss a connection. Finally, you get into Canterbury. Oh, wait, the station is miles away. You're now running extremely late. But it's ok. Because the consultation doc says you could do the entire

11/ journey in 1.5hrs. Oh they forgot the door to door bit...

This actually already happens for many of my clients who have to travel from Medway to Canterbury for their cases which is a real problem. But the reality of not having a court in the Medway towns is going to impact

12/ a v. huge no. of 'court users' given Medway is so busy.

Assume it's only in Maidstone. That's not too bad I hear you say? Has anyone seen Maidstone lately? That's right. It needs lots of work.

Has anyone made the journey from Medway to Maidstone recently? I have many a time

13/ hotfooted from Medway to Maidstone because of an issue with listing. It does not take the time the consultation doc thinks it does. & I drive a fast car.

Public transport is apparently 1hr 20mins from Medway Court to Maidstone Court.

Back to imagining you're a client.

14/ You have a five day case listed in Maidstone. You have to leave at 7.40am to get in at 9am every day & every evening you have to get back using the same route. You might have childcare issues that prevent you from leaving that early or getting back that late.

15/ Oh & you're in the witness box all day on one of those days. It's exhausting for advocates let alone clients.

But according to the doc, it considers that to be their 'measure of a reasonable journey'.

16/ The sad reality is that this proposal discriminates against those who are the most vulnerable people in society, often with significant needs, and who do not need their lives made harder by decisions taken by the MoJ.

17/ Turning quickly (because this is becoming a long rant) to Medway Mags which is a possible option. The problem is, it simply does not have the capacity to deal with the large number of cases the CC deal with.

18/ Finally, how can the consultation doc compare the utilisation figures of the different courts, three of which do crim work?!

I think regardless what anyone has to say in response to the consultation, the MoJ will press ahead with whatever they think offers value for money.

19/ That said, if you share the concerns I have, please do take the time to respond. You have until 11/08 at 23.59