Page 68 - Solving Housing Disputes

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premises. But we understand from HMCTS that the use of civic spaces to hold
“pop-up” or “peripatetic” hearings is not yet in contemplation.

3.24 The Justice Select Committee Inquiry recommended HMCTS develop a strategy
for the use of supplementary venues, with a default position that they be
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established in communities where there has been a court closure. Our Working
Party agrees and thinks there is a particular need for these arrangements for
172
possession hearings, subject to there being appropriate security arrangements
at the venue. For those for whom transport to the nearest court is unaffordable
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and costly, holding courts in civic spaces can reverse the decline in respondent
attendances at possession lists and provide for a less intimidating environment
for those facing the loss of their home. We recommend that, in the absence of
a permanent court and tribunal presence, HMCTS should operate
peripatetic or pop-up courts and tribunals to enable the resolution of
housing disputes in towns and communities which no longer have a physical
court or tribunal presence.

170 The guide refers to “the use of third-party premises to be used on a temporary or occasional basis,
according to business needs”, but does not explicitly reference the prospect of civic spaces being widely
used to conduct hearings https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/court-and-tribunal-design-guide
The First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) (FTT (PC)) already adopts a degree of flexibility in where
hearings are held, including through site visits and has, in the past, sat on a “pop-up” basis where cases
demand it.

171 Note 167 above, para 129.

172 At the time of this report, the Ministry of Justice was consulting on the Housing Possession Court
Duty Scheme (HPCDS), which included proposals for local arrangements to allow practitioners to follow
up with clients at a higher rate of remuneration than currently available. We imagine changes to the court
and tribunal guide to allow for “pop-up” or “peripatetic courts” would be made in consultation with the
MOJ team working on the HPCDS to allow practitioners to act as duty lawyers in “pop-up” courts with
sustainable funding.

173 The rooms used for these hearings will require certain features; modular furniture, the ability to
produce orders urgently for certain hearings, a good WiFi connection, security staff (where needed) and
separate doors for parties and court staff for security reasons, JUSTICE note 169 above para 4.16.

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