Overview
- New MoJ data, published Thursday, puts the Crown Court backlog at 80,203 pending cases, up 8% year on year.
- The magistrates’ courts now carry 379,437 open cases, a record that adds pressure on the lower tier of the system.
- Delays are lengthening, with average Crown Court cases taking more than nine weeks and jury trials after a not guilty plea nearing 49 weeks.
- Ministers are advancing plans to cap jury trials to offences likely to draw three years or more, while raising magistrates’ sentencing powers to two years.
- Lawyers and several Labour MPs object to the curbs as unfair, as FOI records show 2,600 trials are not listed until 2028 and ministers warn the courts are close to collapse.