Criminal court statistics quarterly: October to December 2021
Type and volume of cases received and processed through the criminal court system of England and Wales, including statistics on case timeliness. Also includes statistics on the use of language interpreter and translation services in courts and tribunals, England and Wales.
Applies to England and Wales
Documents
Details
This is the quarterly Q4 2021 criminal courts statistics publication.
The statistics here focus on key trends in case volume and progression through the criminal court system in England and Wales. This also includes:
- Experimental statistics on ‘the use of language interpreter and translation services in courts and tribunals;
Additional data tools and CSVs have also been provided.
Statisticians comment
This report covers the period to the end of 2021 and shows the impact of the pandemic, including the restricted operation of criminal courts, and continued recovery following the reintroduction of jury trials during the period.
Disposals at the magistrates’ courts are down on the previous quarter, and the outstanding caseload at the magistrates’ courts has increased slightly, though is 6% below the position at the end of 2020. In the Crown Courts, disposals were also down on the previous quarter but remained above receipts meaning that the outstanding caseload continues to fall from its series peak in Q2 2021. Latest management information from Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal Service (HMCTS) to January 2022 show further small monthly reductions in outstanding volumes beyond Q4 2021.
Timeliness estimates, which reflect the length of time a case has taken at the point of completion, and therefore often covers the period where the pandemic disrupted court processes showed a mixed picture. In the magistrates’ court, these have remained stable on the previous quarter: below the series peaks but above pre-COVID levels. Whereas the impacts of the COVID response are more evident in the time spent at the Crown Court where durations continue to increase.
Criminal court statistics quarterly, January to March 2022
The next criminal court statistics publication is scheduled for release on 31 June 2022.
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 post holders:
Ministry of Justice
Permanent Secretary; Director General, Policy, Communications and Analysis; Director, Criminal Justice Policy; Deputy Director, Criminal Courts Policy; Criminal Court Reform Lead; Courts and Tribunal Recovery Unit; Jurisdictional and Operational Support Manager; Head of Data and Analytical Services; Chief Statistician; 5 Press Officers.
Her Majesty’s Court and Tribunals Service
Chief Executive, HMCTS; Deputy Chief Executive, HMCTS; Deputy Director of Legal Services, Court Users and Summary Justice Reform; Head of Operational Performance; Head of Criminal Enforcement team, HMCTS; Head of data and management information, HMCTS; Head of Management Information Systems; Head of Communications; Head of News; Jurisdictional Operation manager and Head of Contracted Services and Performance for HMCTS Operations Directorate.