England: Planned night courts prompt anger from women barristers

Women barristers are up in arms over a plan to introduce night courts – which they say will make them work antisocial hours, The Times reports.

HM Courts & Tribunal Service has laid out a plan to extend court opening hours in order to speed up the progress of cases.

However, The Bar Council and Law Society say that the move would discriminate against women.

Andrew Langdon QC, chairman of The Bar Council, said: “These proposals will make it almost impossible for parents with childcare responsibilities to predict if they can make the school run or to know when they will be able to pick children up from childminders.

“Childcare responsibilities still fall disproportionately to women, many of whom do not return to the profession after having children. It is hard to see how these plans sit with the government’s commitment to improving diversity in the profession.”

Under the scheme, to be piloted in six courts centres, crown courts would sit until 6pm, rather than 4pm; civil courts until 7pm and magistrates’ courts until 8:30pm.

Barrister Morwenna Macro, who has begun an online petition against the plans, said they were “impractical and ill-considered; and unworkable, unnecessary and unfair,” adding that “all those working in the courts deserved to have a good work/life balance and the ability to see their children”.

She said: “This is a regressive step and a barrier to greater diversity in the profession and on the bench and in particular will be a further obstacle to the retention of women.”

The Association of Women Barristers said the move “will lead to fewer women working as lawyers in criminal courts. Rather than introduce night courts… we ask the government to re-open the courts it has closed, so as to deal with the backlog.”

A spokesman for the Courts Service said: “We are exploring flexible operating hours in six pilot courts to test how we can improve access to justice for everyone by making the service more convenient for working people.”