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Written question asked by Lord Wasserman (Conservative) on Tuesday, 21 July 2020, in the House of Lords. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 4 August 2020. It was answered by Lord Keen of Elie (Conservative) on Tuesday, 4 August 2020 on behalf of the Ministry of Justice.

Courts: Coronavirus

Question

To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the present backlog of cases awaiting trial in (1) the Crown Court, and (2) the Magistrates' Court.

Answer

The table below provides the information requested on the current number of outstanding cases awaiting trial in (1) the Crown Court, and (2) the Magistrates’ Courts.

These data are taken from the national statistics on the level of outstanding work in the criminal courts for the first quarter of 2020 which were published on 26 June 2020 and are available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/criminal-court-statistics. The data for the second quarter will be published in September 2020.

Outstanding cases awaiting trial in the Magistrates’ and Crown Court as at 31 March 2020

Magistrates’ Court12

77,459

Crown Court2

31,686

Notes:

1The magistrates’ court figure represents all those cases outstanding that are categorised as for trial (Indictable-only and Triable-either-way) and not just those awaiting a trial hearing. For example, it will include cases where defendants plead guilty and not guilty, and those where a warrant has been issued

2 Though the figures for both Magistrates’ and Crown Court includes for trial cases (Triable-either-way and Indictable Only) which are outstanding for trial we are unable to say at what stage of the court process these are, for example, this may include cases where a trial has started but has not concluded.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
HL7120
Session
2019-21
Subjects
Criminal proceedings Courts Disease control Magistrates' courts Coronavirus
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk