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Written question asked by James McMurdock (Independent (affiliation)) on Wednesday, 3 June 2026, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 8 June 2026. It was answered by Sarah Sackman (Labour) on Friday, 12 June 2026 on behalf of the Ministry of Justice.


Crown Court and Magistrates' Courts: Standards

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate his Department has made of the average waiting time between charge and trial in a) magistrates’ courts and b) the Crown Court.

Answer

Whilst data is not routinely published for the period from charge to trial start (i.e. the main hearing for defendants entering a not guilty plea), a bespoke breakdown of the Crown Court ‘End-to-end timeliness tool’ shows that the mean time from charge to trial start in 2025 was 433 days, with a corresponding median of 336 days.

A comparable metric is not available in the magistrates’ courts.


Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
6649
Session
2026-27
Subjects
Crown Court Prosecutions Magistrates' courts Standards Trials
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk