Crown Court wait times hit record highs as government struggles to cut Covid backlog
Victims, defendants, and witnesses face record long waits for Crown Court trials, as the UK struggles to reduce the backlog faced by the court system due to Covid.
A record 23 per cent of outstanding trials have now been outstanding for more than a year, figures from the Ministry of Justice show.
At the same time, wait times for Crown Court trials are longer than ever, with those waiting for a Crown Court trial now waiting for an average of 251 days, the figures show.
In total, 59,928 cases were waiting to be heard in Crown Court at the end of Q3 2021, down 1 per cent on the previous quarter.
The length of time between an offence being committed and a defendant being dealt with in Crown Court also hit record highs of 449 days, up from just more than 200 before the pandemic.
The huge backlog comes as the UK continues in its struggle to reduce the backlog built up during the pandemic.
This week, the government said Magistrate’s will be given powers to jail people for up to a year, as part of a push to cut the burden on Crown Courts.
As reported by the Law Society Gazette, Law Society president I. Stephanie Boyce said: “Victims, witnesses and defendants are waiting too long to get the justice they deserve.”
“The lengthy delays in trials coming to court mean a traumatised victim can be left waiting years to see their assailant locked up, while an innocent defendant can find their life in limbo while they wait to clear their name.”