Criminal Court statistics - Minister Sackman comment

Criminal court statistics quarterly: January to March 2025 - GOV.UK

Minister for Courts and Legal Services, Sarah Sackman KC MP, said: 

“Despite the hard work of people across the criminal justice system the situation in our Crown Court is reaching breaking point. We inherited a courts crisis with an ever-growing backlog which, at its current rate of increase, will hit 100,000 before 2028.

“It is simply unacceptable that any victim has to wait years to see justice done and it is clear the status quo is not working. Only radical reform can deliver swifter justice for victims and that is why we asked Sir Brian Leveson to make recommendations for once-in-a-generation change, to be published in the coming weeks.”

Guidance:

• The outstanding caseload in the Crown Court is now 76,957 cases, up from 74,592 in December. This is an 11% increase on the previous year (69,021).
• An extrapolation of the data suggests the backlog will hit 100,000 cases by Autumn 2027. 
• We have announced an independent review into the criminal courts led by Sir Brian Leveson, to propose once-in-a-generation court reforms to speed up justice for victims.
• The Government has announced up to £450m additional investment per year for the courts system by 2028-29, increasing Crown Court sitting days to record levels. This will help tackle court backlogs and improve court productivity.
• This year, the Government is funding a record allocation of Crown Court sitting days to deliver swifter justice for victims – 110,000 sitting days this year, 4,000 higher than the last Government funded.
• We have also extended magistrates' court sentencing powers from six to 12 months, freeing up to 2,000 sitting days in the Crown Court to handle the most serious cases.
• Beyond this, we continue work to speed up justice for victims by: 
• • Investing in judicial recruitment, and launching a Major Review of judicial pay to ensure a fully resourced judiciary.
  • We continue to invest in the recruitment of approximately 1,000 judges and tribunal members per year across the courts and tribunals.
  • Implementing a range of operational initiatives to maximise capacity within the criminal justice system. These include the movement of cases across regions and remote sentencing and appeals hearings.