News story

Half a million court cases accepted onto Common Platform

With all magistrates’ and Crown courts now using the new case management system, HMCTS has achieved another major milestone.

Last week saw a total of over 500,000 cases accepted onto Common Platform. Numbers of cases managed through the platform have been rising more rapidly in recent months as the remaining courts have been introduced to the new system.

The numbers of cases managed through the platform have been rising more rapidly in recent months as these remaining courts have been introduced to the new system.

All new police-initiated prosecutions heard in the courtroom are now uploaded onto the system, and the range of types of cases which are in scope to be managed on Common Platform has been steadily growing since it was first introduced in 2021. Each week, on average, fewer than 1% of cases accepted onto Common Platform need to be ejected.

There is more work still to do as we continue adding more features and functionality to Common Platform.  We plan to deliver a range of significant improvements in the coming months.

Nick Goodwin, Chief Executive of HMCTS, said:

This achievement is a real testament to the hard work and unfailing dedication of our colleagues and partners in every region.

Bringing in a system of this importance, scale and complexity was always going to be challenging – and there’s plenty more to be done to improve and enhance Common Platform – but the principal building block is now in place.

The lessons we’ve learned will inform our plans for future development as we keep working to modernise the criminal justice system and make it swifter, more efficient and more accessible.

I can’t thank everyone who has been involved in this programme enough for your support and everything you’ve achieved.

Daniel Flury, Director of the Crime Programme, said:

This is a major achievement, and every person who uses and works with Common Platform has played a part in it. 

We’ve made good progress in improving the performance and stability of Common Platform, but we recognise that we need to keep working hard to build confidence in the system and the improvements we will keep on delivering.

That’s why we’ve recently revised and enhanced our approach to releases and testing, designed to make the changes run smoother and more efficiently.

We will keep improving and enhancing Common Platform, and keep our users and stakeholders informed about the progress we make.

We expect to complete delivery of Common Platform in March 2025.

Published 9 October 2023