Criminal court statistics (quarterly): April to June 2015
Statistics on type and volume of cases received and processed through the criminal court system of England and Wales in April to June 2015.
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These statistics 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.
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At magistrates’ courts, the number of disposals at Q2 2015 is now higher than receipts for the first time since Q3 2013.
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Following a steady increase in the number of outstanding cases in the Crown Court, there has been a small decrease since Q4 2014. This reflects that Crown Court receipts are continuing to decline, with a decrease of 8% over the past 12 months, whilst disposals are continuing to increase, with an increase of 4% over the same period.
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The overall number of days from first listing in the magistrates’ courts to completion in the Crown Court has increased from 164 days to 204 days between Q2 2013 and Q2 2015. This 2015 figure is the highest throughout the time series.
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The amount of time spent at magistrates’ courts fell substantially from 22 days to 5 days between 2013 and 2014, following the abolition of committal hearings, and this figure of 5 days has remained consistent over the past year.
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Average waiting times have continued to increase in trial cases since Q2 2014, but have remained fairly steady in non-trial cases. Over a longer period, triable-either-way cases and indictable only cases have increased by 5.7 weeks and 4.6 weeks respectively between Q2 2013 and Q2 2015.
Pre-release
In addition to 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 (Policing, Crime, Criminal Justice and Victims), Minister for State (Justice and Civil Liberties), Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (HMCTS, Tribunals, Judicial Policy, Coroners), Lord Chief Justice, Permanent Secretary, Director General of Finance and Public Services, Director General of Criminal Justice, Director Sentencing and Rehabilitation, Policy Advisor (Victim and Criminal Proceedings), Policy Advisor (Unrepresented Defendants), Policy Advisor (Criminal Procedure), Policy Advisor to the Secretary of State, Head of Analytical Services Directorate, Chief Statistician, Attorney Generals Office, Press Office and relevant Special Advisers.
Her Majesty’s Court Service:
Chief Executive, Director of Crime, Director Finance, Head of Crown Court Improvement Branch, Head of Criminal Enforcement, Head of Performance, Analysis & Reporting, Deputy Director of Legal Services, Cross Jurisdictional Director of the Court Service, Data Collection, Performance and Reporting Manager, Head of Communications, and Performance Information Manager.