Court photocopying ban lifted
Wednesday 21st April 2010, 10:17AM BST.
A penny-pinching ban on free photocopying at a Shropshire magistrates court has been lifted, it was claimed today.
Until Monday solicitors were banned from making free photocopies of crucial evidence, leaving magistrates with no choice but to put cases back so copies could be made elsewhere.
But it has now been claimed that court chiefs have waived the ban after it was revealed a case at Telford Magistrates Court was deferred last Thursday for a week – a cost of almost £2,000.
Solicitor Steven Meredith, from Terry Jones Solicitors in Telford, spoke out against the ban after he was not allowed to make free copies of forensic evidence.
Today Mr Meredith said solicitors arrived at Telford Magistrates Court yesterday to find the ban had been shelved. But Zoe Campbell, spokeswoman for Her Majesty’s Courts Service, today claimed there was never an official ban in place and new court rules introduced were misinterpreted by staff at Telford.
However, last week Her Majesty’s Courts Service confirmed a ban was in place across the country.
Today she said: “This was an unfortunate misunderstanding. HMCS has put procedures in place to ensure this doesn’t happen in future.”
Mr Meredith added: “It will stop delays and everyone is very happy with it, including some of the court staff – it’s a result.”
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Erm …. why should Solicitors get free use of Court equipment at cost to the taxpayer ?????
There’s certainly no reason court cases should be adjourned with all the costs and inconveniences incurred just because defence (or I’m sure presecution) solicitors need to photocopy something relevant, but perhaps a ‘shop runner’ sheet should be kept so the firms can be charged monthly for what they’ve copied.
I bet in most cases at Telford the taxpayer is already paying for the solicitor to be there anyway, why should they have to foot the bill for them twice ???
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