Guest post by Jonathan Wheeler, managing partner, and Lucy Wakeley, public affairs executive, at London law firm Bolt Burdon Kemp
Jonathan Wheeler
Attending court is always a challenging and nerve-wracking time – and not just for the lawyers! We are a niche litigation firm specialising in representing claimants who have been seriously injured. Many of our clients face further barriers because our courtrooms are not accessible for people with disabilities.
Our clients
Our clients often come to us as broken individuals. They may have recently suffered major physical trauma, or are coming to terms with past abuse for which they have summoned tremendous courage to seek redress. We try and use the law to mend and heal them. Being made uncomfortable in court because buildings are not properly adapted or equipped makes an already challenging day even more difficult.
Across BBK, our solicitors have stories of clients who have faced additional barriers to attending court due to the inaccessibility of the court estate.
This includes having to travel further to access disabled parking, having to take a separate or back entrance to access a lift, and trying to navigate narrow corridors that do not fit a wheelchair. All these barriers mean the journey into court takes significantly longer and adds to the stress of the day.
Once inside the courts, our clients have had difficulties accessing the cafes and sometimes disabled toilets are non-existent or out of use.
On many occasions, the date of a final hearing is not finalised until just a few days before. This can mean finding out on a Friday that the trial will start on Monday. This can be stressful for clients, especially those with a disability as it gives less time to prepare and make arrangements.
Many courts, including the Royal Courts of Justice, request you inform them in advance if you have accessibility needs. However, when the hearings are last minute, this becomes challenging.
The need to inform the courts in advance has been an issue across many of our cases, especially when cases are transferred to different courts at short notice. When cases are transferred to a new venue, the accessibility requests are often not passed on and this means clients have to make their requests again simply to be able to access the courtroom.
Our research
Lucy Wakeley
In 2020, we conducted research into the accessibility of Britian’s civil and criminal courthouses and the results were concerning. We found that only 2% of courthouses were fully accessible; 84% of courts could not be fully accessed by wheelchair users.
Only 22% of courthouses offer witness care services such as a secure witness suite, access to the Citizens Advice witness service, a vulnerable witness waiting area separate from the public waiting area, or a quiet room for people with anxiety and other mental health issues.
Are improvements being made?
In 2023, the Lord Chancellor announced some improvements. This included the re-launch of the disability contact officer network at the Royal Courts of Justice with staff devoting time to supporting individuals with disabilities when using the courts.
In the same year, he announced that £220m would be spent to improve and modernise the buildings within the court estate. However, with the size and scale of improvements needed, I am unsure how far this funding will go. Since the general election, it is also unclear whether this pledge will continue under the new government and how much had already been spent.
More must be done to invest in the court estate to ensure it is accessible for those with disabilities. The issues our clients face when attending court do not just act as a physical hurdle, but as a significant barrier in accessing justice.
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