Lost Evidence and IT Failures: Serious Implications for Carrying Out Justice

How Recent IT Issues Are Latest In Potential Compromises in Integrity of Criminal Court Proceedings.

Recent revelations about an IT bug in HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) raise serious concerns about the integrity of court proceedings in England and Wales.

Leaked reports suggest that evidence may have been lost, overwritten, or obscured for several years, with some sources claiming senior management failed to fully investigate or inform judges and lawyers.

The justice system depends on the accurate presentation of evidence. If vital documents or records were missing in a case, there is a real risk of miscarriages of justice.

What the Leaked Report Revealed

This particular bug affected the case management software used across civil, family, and tribunal courts. Evidence such as medical records, contact details, and case documents were sometimes hidden from view in the system. This could mean judges made decisions without having access to all the facts.

According to the report, HMCTS had been warned about the problem since 2019 but took years to act. When an investigation was eventually carried out, it only reviewed three months of recent tribunal cases — despite the software being in use for years. Only a fraction of flagged cases were examined further.

Why This Matters for Defendants

From a defence perspective, incomplete case files can have devastating consequences. In criminal and family proceedings alike, missing evidence could mean:

• Vital defence material was never seen by the court
• Prosecution evidence went unchallenged
• Unfair rulings in matters such as child protection, benefit entitlement, or civil disputes

Even if the missing data did not change the outcome in every case, the fact that the extent of the problem is unknown undermines public confidence in the system.

Transparency and Fair Trial Rights

The leaked report also noted that judges and lawyers were not informed, as HMCTS management feared disclosure would “cause more harm than good”.

This could be argued however that failing to disclose the issue is troubling. In our legal system, full disclosure of relevant material is a cornerstone of a fair trial. Failing to notify the court and parties risks breaching those rights entirely.

Wider Parallels and Risks

Whilst these issues are primarily focussed around family & civil law and tribunals, from a criminal law perspective – any concerns about a justice system seen to be vulnerable to such issues, can carry grave concerns.

In criminal law, the wider impact on people’s lives relies on the criminal justice system being as fair and as transparent as possible. 

Some insiders have compared this situation to the Horizon Post Office scandal, where IT failings were hidden for years. The parallels are worrying — particularly if data loss incidents are ongoing and have not been comprehensively investigated.

Not only are there concerns regarding the integrity of these issues, safeguarding issues can also become a concern. There are even reports of thousands of documents going missing in public family law cases, including child protection matters, with no retrospective review to identify potential harm.

The Path Forward

There are now calls for an independent inquiry into the scale of this IT failure. Affected cases — both past and present — must be identified and reviewed. Defendants, appellants, and respondents have a right to know whether their case was affected and, if so, to seek redress.

The digital modernisation of the courts may be inevitable, but it must never come at the expense of transparency, due process, and the right to a fair hearing.

Injustice can occur not just through wrongful convictions, but through flawed processes that prevent the truth from being fully heard. This case is a reminder that our justice system’s credibility relies on accuracy, accountability, and openness.

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