Crown court backlog nears 80,000 in new record high

It is also up 9% from the same point a year earlier, according to Ministry of Justice figures.

The number of cases open for a year or more passed 20,000 for the first time at 20,155 at the end of September, which is up 25% year on year and up 6% from the end of June.

Open caseload refers to the number of outstanding cases.

Earlier this month Justice Secretary David Lammy set out plans to reform the courts system, following recommendations from a review by Sir Brian Leveson published earlier this year.

This included scrapping jury trials for some cases and creating new swift courts within crown courts for a lone judge to hear cases instead.

Magistrates’ powers will also be increased to be able to hand down sentences of up to 18 months’ imprisonment, up from 12 months currently, so they will be able to deal with more cases.

It comes as Ministry of Justice projections published earlier this month suggested the crown court backlog could reach a high estimate of 125,000 by the end of this Parliament under current conditions.

The changes seek to curb victims facing “agonising delays” in the system as some trials are being listed as far as 2030.

Responding to the record high, Mr Lammy, who is also Deputy Prime Minister, said: “This Government inherited a system on the brink of collapse.

“Victims’ lives are being put on hold as cases are kicked several years into the future.

“The scale of this crisis means tinkering at the edges is not enough. We simply cannot spend our way out of this mess – only fundamental reform can give the brave survivors of crime fairer and faster justice.”

Sexual offences account for a growing proportion of cases with the longest delays in crown courts in England and Wales, according to Press Association analysis of the latest data.

One in five (20%) backlog cases that had been open for at least two years as of the end of September 2025 were for this category of offence.

This is up from 15% in September 2024 and 11% in September 2023.

A total of 1,191 cases involving sexual offences had been open for two years or more at the end of September, up sharply from 825 cases in September 2024 and 708 in 2023.

Rape cases accounted for 9% of the two-year backlog in September, up from 5% in both 2024 and 2023.

Some 513 rape cases had been open for at least two years as of September, compared with 302 12 months earlier and 279 in 2023.

The category of offence that makes up the single largest proportion of cases open for at least two years is that of violence against the person, accounting for 26% of the total in September, up from 24% in 2024 and 22% in 2023.

Drug offences made up 15% of the two-year backlog in September, down from 17% in 2024 and 21% in 2023.

Ministers hope the reforms will see the backlog on a downward trend by the end of this Parliament.

Mr Lammy told the Justice Committee on Tuesday he hopes to bring in legislation for court reform in the spring.

But Criminal Bar Association chairwoman Riel Karmy-Jones KC said the Government “must stop weaponising” victims of serious sexual offences, who have cases in the backlog, by claiming the plans to limit jury trials will bring them swifter justice.

“It won’t and to say it will is simply not right, nor is it fair to them to give them that false hope and expectation,” she said.

“Because there is nothing about these proposals that is swift.

“However, the MoJ could reduce delay today by opening up more courtrooms. The MoJ could unfurl that system countrywide to where it is most needed, saving the jury system and saving public faith in justice.”

Chair of the justice select committee, Andy Slaughter, told the Commons on Thursday: “Restricting jury trial may help to reduce the crown court backlog, but there is no evidence that the use of juries caused the current delay.”