Crown court backlog hits new record high

The Government is considering “fundamental reform” in the courts after the crown court backlog almost doubled in five years, hitting another record high.

The number of criminal cases waiting to be dealt with by crown courts in England and Wales stood at 73,105 at the end of September.

Increase

The caseload increased 3% on the previous quarter (71,042 cases), 10% on the previous year (66,426 cases) and has close to doubled since the end of 2019 (38,016 cases), according to the Ministry of Justice (MoJ).

The department published the figures for the first time in several months on Thursday amid concerns over inaccuracies with the data.

It means past court backlog data has also been revised.

Jury trials

The latest figures prompted the Government to announce it has drafted in retired judge Sir Brian Leveson to carry out a major review of the courts system.

Ministers had earlier hinted jury trials could be scrapped in some cases amid efforts considered to cut the backlog.

Newly appointed justice minister Sarah Sackman told reporters: “I’ve been here for eight days, and in that eight days it’s become apparent to me that there is nothing short of a crisis in the crown court system.

“The crown court caseload is at record levels, those levels are rising and if we don’t do anything about it we’ll soon be in the territory of a caseload backlog of six figures.

The “reality” of measures already taken is that this is “barely touching the sides and what’s actually needed is fundamental reform”, she said, adding: “We’ve asked Sir Brian to consider all options.”

Sir Brian is expected to present his findings in the spring, around the same time as ministers are due to consider conclusions from former justice secretary David Gauke’s sentencing review.