28 January 2026

Nick Gova features in Global Legal Insights on new courts

Head of Family Nick Gova features in Global Legal Insights discussing the four temporary courts that will be made permanent.

Nick welcomes the government’s decision to make four former Nightingale Courts permanent but warns it risks becoming a “sticking-plaster solution” to deep-rooted problems. He said adding 11 courtrooms should not distract from the “dire reality” facing practitioners and families, arguing that converting temporary pandemic courts into permanent sites highlights how far the justice system has fallen behind.

Nick questions claims that the move would end long delays for victims, pointing to Crown Court backlogs that have left people waiting years for hearings. He also stresses that pressures are particularly severe in the family courts, which continue to face “chronic listing delays, ageing infrastructure and a lack of judicial capacity”.

While investment is welcome, Nick concludes that without “deep structural reform” to address the systemic causes of delay, the promise of speedier justice will remain “an aspiration rather than a reality”.

Read the article