Criminal cases could not be heard at Welshpool Magistrates' Court today (Tuesday, October 25) because legal advisors have gone on strike over a computer system being used.
People who were summoned to appear in court were told to go home this morning after staff who advise magistrates on law did not show up for the cases to be heard as part of their industrial action.
Eleven cases, including one sentencing for assault and criminal damage, did not go ahead in Welshpool court today.
At least 68 courts across England and Wales - including Welshpool Magistrates' Court - are affected by staff launching a strike in a dispute over a controversial case management system.
The Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) said its members working as legal advisers and court associates are staging a nine-day walkout that started on Saturday (October 22).
The workers, who postponed last month’s planned strike after the death of Queen Elizabeth II, are locked in a row over the use of the so-called Common Platform system.
Their employer, His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal Service (HMCTS), has said the scheme is key to modernising the court system.
But the PCS says “teething problems” that staff were warned of when the scheme was introduced two years ago have persisted, forcing them to work longer hours and negatively impacting the justice system.
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The union previously said 180 of its members were involved in the row, which will see industrial action take place from October 22 to 30.
The union’s general secretary, Mark Serwotka, said: “Our members in courts feel a huge amount of resentment and resolve because their voices are being ignored by managers.
“We’ve asked managers to stop the roll-out of the scheme and they haven’t. They haven’t even paused for negotiations to take place. They talk a lot about feedback, but they’re not listening. They’re just ploughing on, regardless of the consequences.
“This is not a new scheme. When it was introduced two years ago, we were told there would be teething problems and that once it’s embedded it’ll get better.
“It hasn’t. Our members are working longer hours, it adversely impacts on their family lives and, importantly, on their ability to deliver justice.”
An HMCTS spokesperson said when the union’s ballot result first came in: “This is a disappointing outcome as we have been working with staff and unions on the rollout of the Common Platform since September 2020, and it has already dealt with over 158,000 criminal cases.”
They have been contacted for further comment.
Among the affected magistrates’ courts are in Aberystwyth, Merthyr Tydfil, Llanelli, Hereford and Kidderminster. It is understood that criminal cases at Llandrindod Magistrates' Court will go ahead on Wednesday (October 26).
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