Research and analysis
The impact of remote hearings on the Crown Court
An evaluation of remote hearings’ impact on the duration and outcomes of hearings and trial cases in the Crown Court.
Applies to England and Wales
Documents
Details
The impact of remote hearings in the Crown Court was evaluated using a propensity score matching approach using data from January 2020 to March 2022. Remote hearings were slightly shorter than matched in-person hearings but using remote plea hearings did not impact the total duration of and the number of total hearings in a case. There were little meaningful differences found in differences in pleas submitted or in the outcomes for not guilty pleas when remote plea hearings instead of in-person were used. These results suggest wider outcomes of justice remain the same when remote hearings are used.