In July last year, the government launched a consultation on the closure of 91 courts and tribunals. Ministers believe that the 86 courts and tribunals facing the axe are used for less than two full days a week and the closures are aimed at making savings from the £500m courts estate budget.

Vara confirmed the closures in a ministerial statement, in which he argued that ‘over 97 per cent of citizens will be able to reach their required court within an hour by car’ and that 83 per cent of the population will be able to reach a tribunal within an hour by car.

Poonam Bhari, chair of LAG and a family law barrister, is sceptical about the estimates of travel times: ‘These closures will further concentrate courts and tribunals in urban centres making travel, especially at rush hour, difficult for people living in outlying and rural areas.’ She is also concerned about the cost of travel, ‘especially for many vulnerable clients, who will face transport and other problems undertaking long journeys to hearings’.

The government believes the loss of access to the courts and tribunals system can be offset by modernising the justice system through the use of technology. It is committed to a £700m investment in IT infrastructure over the next four years. According to the minister’s statement, it aims to ‘make the entire justice system more accessible to everyone – witnesses, victims, claimants, police and lawyers – by using modern technology including online plea, claims and evidence systems and video conferencing, reducing the need for people to travel to court’.

‘I think everyone who uses the court system regularly is aware that there are times, particularly in the afternoon, when they are deserted,’ said Bhari, ‘so on one level I can understand what the government wants to do. The problem is video links and other technological innovations don’t work for all court users.’