When I was a young man, I spent hour after hour in court (I was working as a reporter, I wasn’t a criminal). I can recall one particularly trying spell when I was as in court every day for a month, three different courts in three different towns.

That was unusual but it was quite common for me to be in court two or three days a week. One of the courts I covered was in my home town and on more than one occasion, I sat in the press area and watched relatives plead their case.

Of course, this was back in the day when most towns had their own magistrates’ courts and local justice was dispensed by local people.

By and large, the system worked well. The length of time between people being arrested and having their day in court was relatively short. I did see some strange decisions by some of the more erratic magistrates but on the whole, because the maximum sentence a magistrate could impose was six months, I don’t recall a massive amount of damage being done by ‘wrong’ verdicts or excessive sentencing.

But things have changed, and may I suggest not for the better. Magistrates courts have been moved to ‘centres’ so justice is far less local and the time between being charged and appearing in court has become excessive. It is not unusual for it to take more than a year for a case to come to court.

There can be little doubt the Covid pandemic has had an effect but it appears it’s not the only reason.

Back in November last year, Stephanie Boyce, president of the Law Society of England and Wales, said: “Some trials are being delayed until 2023, leaving victims, witnesses and defendants disillusioned as they wait to access justice. We have been highlighting the problems plaguing the justice system since long before the pandemic and now is the time for action before it’s too late.”

A Law Society report added: “With the easing of pandemic restrictions, physical court space is now less of a problem, but we are seeing the ability to run criminal courts at capacity hit by a lack of judges, court staff, prosecutors and defence lawyers.

“Years of underfunding and cuts including court closures, caps on judicial sitting days and a lack of investment in legal aid have hit the criminal justice system hard, stretching it to breaking point.”

Ah yes, years of underfunding by the Government that has been in power for the past 12 years. Doesn’t really come as much of a surprise, does it?

So is there a solution that doesn’t involve spending money, because I think we all have to accept that a Government wedded to the idea of austerity isn’t going to spend what’s needed to solve the problem.

Well step forward Justice Secretary Dominic Raab who earlier this year announced that the maximum six-month prison sentence that could be handed out by magistrates was to be doubled to a year.

The move will increasingly allow the serious cases heard by magistrates – such as fraud, theft and assault – to be sentenced by them. Under the ‘old’ system crimes warranting a jail term of more than six months had to be sent to crown court where judges determine the appropriate sentence.

Retaining more cases in the magistrates’ courts, which have been less severely affected by Covid, means crown courts can focus on tackling the pandemic backlog.

This is not a good move, according to the Howard League’s Andrea Coomber who said: “Custodial sentences of less than 12 months do little more than wreck people’s lives and result in higher rates of reoffending. The Ministry of Justice’s own research shows that they don’t work and don’t keep the public safe. Encouraging the magistrates’ courts to hand out even more short sentences is the opposite of evidence-based policy.”

To be honest, if it was me in the dock facing fraud charges with the potential to be sentenced to 12 months behind bars, I think I’d rather take my chances with a crown court jury rather than three well-meaning but ultimately volunteer, amateur magistrates acting as judge and jury.

But I think there is some merit in the suggestion put forward by high-profile Cheshire lawyer Nick Freeman, otherwise known as ‘Mr Loophole’ who says the current magistrates’ court working day, which runs from 10am to 4.30pm, significantly reduces the opportunity for cases to be heard and leads to countless and needless adjournments.

Instead, he believes courts should start an hour earlier and finish half an hour later. – reflecting the 9am to 5pm culture of ‘traditional’ office hours. That could work. But I have never worked in an office where 5pm was knocking-off time.