The UK’s HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) faces mounting scrutiny after a leaked internal report revealed a cover-up of an IT bug that led to critical evidence being lost or corrupted. According to the BBC, the report details how HMCTS delayed addressing the issue for several years, failing to investigate the full extent of data loss and not informing legally involved parties about its potential impact on court proceedings. The former head of the High Court’s family division, Sir James Munby, criticized the situation as ‘shocking’ and a ‘scandal’, raising serious concerns about the integrity of judicial processes. Despite these allegations, HMCTS claims its internal investigation found no evidence that any case outcomes were affected by the technical issues. However, critics argue that the lack of transparency and delayed response has eroded public trust in the legal system.
According to the leaked report, HMCTS management made the decision not to inform judges and lawyers about the data corruption, citing that it would ‘be more likely to cause more harm than good.’ This approach, however, led to cases being decided on incomplete or inaccurate evidence, potentially affecting judicial fairness. The report also highlights concerns over how HMCTS managed the bug, which had been identified years prior but not fully resolved. The BBC’s report emphasizes that the situation is part of a broader pattern of negligence, with the former head of the High Court’s family division calling for urgent reforms to ensure the reliability and transparency of court operations. This incident has sparked calls for a thorough review of HMCTS’s IT infrastructure and the procedures in place for addressing technical issues that could impact legal proceedings.