Criminal Justice System statistics quarterly: March 2024
Overview of trends in the use of out of court disposals, defendants prosecuted, offenders convicted, remand and sentencing decisions in England and Wales.
Applies to England and Wales
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This report presents key statistics on activity in the criminal justice system for England and Wales. It provides information up to the year ending March 2024 with accompanying commentary, analysis and presentation of longer-term trends.
Statistician’s comment
Demand on the criminal justice system continues to grow, including throughput into the criminal courts. The volume of prosecutions and convictions has continued to increase.
Prosecutions for the most serious offences surpassed pre-COVID levels, with theft and violence against the person seeing the largest increases.
The increased volume of prosecutions and convictions for more serious offences has increased demand on the prison system – the number of defendants dealt with remanded into custody increased across all remand stages (pre-court, magistrates’ courts and Crown Court) and the number of offenders receiving custodial sentences is now at its highest since the start of the pandemic.
For defendants sentenced to custody, the average custodial sentence length remains broadly unchanged and maintained series highs seen over the last few years - this is now around 70% higher than it was in 2011.