The Ministry of Justice remains confident that it will restore ‘swift access to justice’ for victims despite publishing figures that reveal a record proportion of Crown court cases that are outstanding for more than a year.
According to statistics published today, the Crown court backlog fell slightly on the previous quarter – 59,928 between July and September compared to 60,812 between April and June. However, by the end of September, 23% of the cases (13,202) were outstanding for a year or more – a record high since 2014.
The Ministry of Justice's main statistics report states that the median duration from offence to completion in the Crown court was 449 days - another record high. One of the accompanying tables published alongside the main report reveals a mean time of 708 days. The Ministry of Justice pointed out to the Gazette that the overall time includes police investigations and prosecution.
The figures also reveal that 4,478 trials were vacated (removed from the listing before the trial date) and 1,531 were ineffective.
Law Society president I. Stephanie Boyce said: ‘Victims, witnesses and defendants are waiting too long to get the justice they deserve. The lengthy delays in trials coming to court mean a traumatised victim can be left waiting years to see their assailant locked up, while an innocent defendant can find their life in limbo while they wait to clear their name.
‘Investment in the criminal justice system is needed now, starting with the immediate implementation of the 15% increase in criminal legal aid rates recommended in Sir Christopher Bellamy’s independent review of criminal legal aid.
‘If this does not happen, we fear that our members will leave the market at ever faster rates, which will seriously compromise the government’s ability to clear the huge backlog in the criminal courts and ensure timely justice for victims, witnesses and defendants.’
Criminal Bar Association chair Jo Sidhu QC said: ‘Pushing for trials to get listed whilst failing to invest in criminal legal aid pay is only resulting in further devastating delay for all victims of crime, with the norm now being for trial dates to be bumped at least twice and often three or four times, as the justice system is haemorrhaging the very publicly minded criminal barristers the government relies on to provide the prosecutors, defenders and judges to tackle these record backlogs.’
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: ‘Our decisive action kept justice moving despite the unprecedented impact of the pandemic. As a result, the Crown court backlog has stabilised and fallen slightly in recent months, while in the magistrates’ court it is now back to pre-pandemic levels.
‘With super courtrooms, increased sentencing powers for magistrates and unlimited sitting days in Crown courts this financial year, we will restore the swift access to justice that victims deserve.’
