 A top judge has revealed that since becoming over run with repossession orders, cases which are deemed as less urgent, such as personal injury cases are having to wait longer to be heard in the courts.
Judge Stephen Gerlis, a high court judge at Barnet County Court in North London, has had to appeal for extra part time judges to assist with the heavy workload after he had to deal with 45 repossession cases in one day last week.
“The only way that extra cases can be accommodated is by squeezing out less urgent ones” said Judge Gerlis. “They have been steadily increasing for at least the past two years and are now accelerating at an alarming rate.”
The increase in repossession orders has really put a significant strain on the courts as they legally have to be heard within eight weeks, unlike personal injury claims which can wait for years.
Previously the court had a schedule which meant that they listened to personal injury claims two days a week, family matters took up a further two days, while repossession orders took up just one day a week.
Now however, repossession orders are taking up most of the courts time and other cases are suffering as a result.
Judge Stephen Gold, of Kingston-upon-Thames County Court in South London said that he to had noticed the recent surge in the number of repossession orders, but unlike Judge Stephen Gerlis, he is confident that the court will simply deal with the rush.
He likened the surge in the number of repossessions to previous surges, such as the recent surge in claims for bank charges to be reclaimed and pointed out that the courts had dealt with the situation efficiently with no adverse effects. Updated on 27/08/2008
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