Inaccessible courts put jurors and lawyers through ‘resilience test’
Wheelchair users working in or attending England’s courts are being subjected to what one disability advocate has called a daily “resilience test,” with broken lifts, hazardous ramps and inadequate toilet facilities turning routine court appearances into exhausting ordeals. The problem affects not just defendants and witnesses but jurors, barristers, solicitors and social workers whose professional lives depend on physically entering these buildings.
What wheelchair users are actually facing
The specific obstacles are blunt and unglamorous. Lifts that have been out of service for weeks at a time. Ramps described by users as “unsafe” due to steep gradients or damaged surfaces. Accessible toilets that are locked, repurposed for storage or located on entirely different floors from the courtrooms being used. In some cases, wheelchair users have reported being directed through staff-only entrances or service corridors — routes that are longer, confusing and, at times, undignified.
At least 15 court buildings across England have been flagged in the past 18 months for significant accessibility failures, according to figures shared by disability campaigners. Some of those buildings have seen the same lift malfunction reported three or more times without a lasting fix.
The professional toll on legal and social care workers
For disabled legal professionals, the situation carries a particular edge. A barrister who uses a wheelchair can prepare a case flawlessly, dress for court and arrive on time — and still be left waiting outside a locked accessible entrance while a security guard hunts for the right key. That’s not a minor inconvenience. It’s a professional humiliation that their non-disabled colleagues simply don’t face.
Social workers in family court proceedings describe similar friction. Getting to the right floor, finding a usable bathroom during a long hearing, simply navigating a Victorian-era building that wasn’t designed with mobility in mind — it all adds up. And it happens again the next day, and the day after that.
A spokesperson for HM Courts and Tribunals Service said the agency was “committed to improving accessibility across the court estate” and acknowledged that some older buildings presented “ongoing challenges” that were being reviewed as part of a broader infrastructure programme.
Jurors bearing the burden
Jury service is a legal obligation. So when a court summons a wheelchair user and that court can’t adequately accommodate them, it creates a genuine conflict between civic duty and basic physical access. Jurors have reported being unable to reach jury rooms, being seated in positions that don’t allow them to see the witness stand clearly and, in at least a handful of documented cases, being informally discouraged from serving.
That last point matters enormously. A justice system that passively filters out disabled jurors isn’t a fully representative one.
What happens next
Disability rights groups are pushing for a mandatory, independently verified accessibility audit of every court building used for public hearings — something the government hasn’t yet committed to. With court reform budgets under sustained pressure and many buildings dating back more than a century, it’s hard to be optimistic about a quick fix. But the pressure is building, and for the people arriving at court each morning just hoping the lift works, patience is running out.
