Criminal court statistics (quarterly): July to September 2016
The latest statistics on type and volume of cases received and processed through the criminal court system of England and Wales in July to September 2016.
Documents
Details
The Crown Court information release is published as management information on the Courts and Tribunals Judiciary website.
The statistics here focus on key trends in case volume and progression through the criminal court system in England and Wales. There is also information concerning the enforcement of financial penalties in England and Wales.
- Disposals in magistrates’ courts remain higher than receipts, resulting in the outstanding magistrates’ court caseload dropping to 281,600 at the end of Q3 2016, the lowest level in the time period reported.
- Outstanding cases in the Crown Court have been gradually decreasing since Q4 2014. Between Q2 2016 and Q3 2016 they declined by 5% to 41,800 cases, the lowest number of outstanding cases since Q1 2013.
- Over the last 12 months, for cases completing in the Crown Court, the average number of days from first listing to completion in the Crown Court decreased overall from 198 days in Q3 2015 to 193 days in Q3 2016.
- Hearing times for not guilty trials in the Crown Court have increased in the latest quarter to 14.5 hours in Q3 2016. Hearing times for guilty plea trials have remained fairly steady with a small increase to 1.7 hours into Q3 2016.
Pre-release
In addition to Ministry of Justice (MOJ) professional and production staff, pre-release access to the quarterly statistics of up to 24 hours is granted to the following postholders:
MOJ:
Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice; Minister of State, Courts and justice; Lord Chief Justice; Permanent Secretary; Chief Financial Officer; Director, Criminal Justice Policy; Director, Criminal Justice Policy; Deputy Director - Criminal Court Policy; Deputy Director, Victims, Witness and Criminal Justice Delivery; Criminal Court Reform Lead; Head of Criminal Procedure, Criminal Court Procedure Policy; Head of Analytical Services; Chief Statistician; Attorney General’s Office; 3 Press Officers; 1 Special Adviser and 8 Private Secretaries.
Her Majesty’s Court and Tribunals Service:
Chief Executive, HMCTS; Deputy Chief Executive, HMCTS; Director of HMCTS Operations; Deputy Director for Crime; Deputy Director, Performance, Analysis and Reporting; Director Finance; Deputy Director, Legal Operations; Head of Crown Court Jurisdictional Support Team, Crime & Crown; Head of National Compliance and Enforcement Service Operational Support Team; Head of Operational Performance; MIS Team Leader and Performance Information Manager.