Court hearings cancelled because of HMCTS's errors

What happened

Mr D was convicted of assault by a magistrates' court. He appealed against his conviction to a crown court. The appeal was listed for hearing five times, but did not go ahead on any of those occasions because the court did not have enough time to hear it because cases that were heard before Mr D's overran.

When one of the hearings was adjourned in mid-2013, the judge ordered that Mr D's case should not be listed at the end of the week and that no other cases should be listed on the same day. HMCTS (HM Courts & Tribunals Service) did not follow the judge's directions and listed the hearing at the end of a week and at the same time as other cases. The appeal could not go ahead again.

HMCTS also sent Mr D an incorrect notice that gave him the wrong date for his appeal.

What we found

When HMCTS sent Mr D an incorrect notice of hearing, it unfairly raised his expectations that his appeal would be dealt with. HMCTS should have sent the correct notification.

It is also extremely important that HMCTS follows the directions of a judge. Its failure to do so here amounted to a serious error that caused Mr D some considerable frustration and inconvenience.

HMCTS was not at fault with regard to the other hearings that were cancelled. It had listed those hearings correctly and, on those occasions, it was not HMCTS's fault that the cases listed before Mr D's had taken longer than expected.

Putting it right

HMCTS reimbursed Mr D for the legal fees he had paid as a result of its mistakes, and his travel expenses. It paid Mr D £500 in recognition of the frustration and inconvenience its mistakes had caused him.