Justice Minister Damian Green has attacked the UK’s justice system's use of IT in failing to update current systems and employ standard technological services to reduce delays.

In a speech made on Tuesday Mr Green said that the “police are still wasting far too much of their time doing data entry and photocopying and not protecting the public".

“Anyone who compares the way the criminal justice system works with any other modern workplace will be immediately struck by the terrible failure to take advantage of all the benefits that technology can bring," he added.

Green said that the MoJ must modernise in order to reduce waste and the expenditure of tax payers money, saying: "I want to see much greater use of this technology over the next eleven months as an ambitious programme of work lays solid foundations for a truly digital courts service in England and Wales in 2013."

The MoJ have moved to develop IT services in recent years, focusing on increasing shared services applications, designed to improve ICT communications and help departments meet vigorous budget cuts.