The phrase "a time when courts" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used to refer to a specific period or instance in which judicial systems or courts were involved in a particular matter or event.
Example: "There was a time when courts played a crucial role in shaping civil rights legislation."
Alternatives: "an era in which courts" or "a period during which courts".
At a time when courts typically awarded mothers custody, a state Supreme Court judge on Long Island ruled that the father was a more fit custodian.
It comes at a time when courts are already hit by a work to rule by administrative staff, members of the Public and Commercial Services Union, who plan to step up their action in a protest over low pay and job cuts.
Legal historians view the late 19th century and early 20th century as a time when courts took the side of corporations in labor disputes, turning a blind eye to the economic realities of the unequal bargaining power of employers and employees.
The election of judges to fill vacancies in Supreme, Civil, and Surrogate courts in New York State next month comes at a time when the courts, their administration, and the system of judicial elections are all under attack.
The action comes at a time when the courts in Brooklyn are under intense scrutiny.
The second order is a plan to aggressively step up the deportation of unauthorized immigrants at a time when immigration courts are tremendously backlogged.
Gay rights started from scratch at a time when the courts were, as a rule, implacably hostile to the cause of expanding definitions of civil rights.
Thus, in a time when the courts were dominated by Democrats, a split Senate had little reason to oppose the nonideological nominees of an overwhelmingly popular Republican president.
His citizenship was challenged at a time when the courts had consistently held that whiteness was a requisite quality in a new American, and one that Afghans lacked.
But the continuing rise in cases comes at a time when the courts, prosecution service and police are all under severe pressure because of a shortfall in resources.
A story of adultery, it was daring at a time when American courts were still deciding if "Lady Chatterley's Lover," D. H. Lawrence's long-suppressed novel, should be considered obscene.
