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Record backlog: 60,000 cases waiting to be heard in UK crown courts

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Osmond is the first ever solicitor that the SFO has prosecuted with “tipping off” a client.
Osmond is the first ever solicitor that the SFO has prosecuted with “tipping off” a client.

The backlog of criminal cases in the UK’s crown courts has hit almost 60,000 – the highest number since records began.

There were 59,532 outstanding crown court cases in the first quarter of 2021, up 45 per cent on the same period last year, according to the latest figures from the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) published today.

This, the MoJ said, was the highest number of backlogged cases since it first began records in 2014.

Delays exacerbated by Covid restrictions have left victims and defendents with spiralling waiting times.

A fifth of crown court cases are taking more than a year to be heard, and the average waiting time from offence to hearing as jumped by 46 per cent from last year to 213 days.

The number of cases awaiting trial more than doubled from the same period last year.

Of these cases, drug offences saw the largest increase year-on-year, at 75 per cent.

This was closely followed by sexual offences, which saw a 67 per cent rise in the proportion awaiting trail – just days after a government review of rape cases found that court delays were largely responsible for the UK’s plummeting rape prosecutions.

The total amount of money owed, including court fines, prosecutors’ costs, and compensation orders has doubled in the last six years to £1.2bn.

The new figures come two days after the Lord Chief Justice called for smaller juries to help clear the courts backlog.

Derek Sweeting QC, chair of the Bar Council, warned that the number of cases brought to the court will just keep on rising in the coming years, especially given the government’s recent commitment to more cases in court in the rape review, as well as more police officers.

“Unless the Government urgently commits to long term and sustained investment in the courts and the wider justice system, the number of cases stuck in the courts will continue to rise.

“Behind every number in this backlog are victims of crime, defendants, witnesses and their families, putting their lives on hold while they wait years to see justice done,” he added.