Crown Court Backlog Hits a Record as Ministers Rethink Jury Curbs
Ministry of Justice figures published today show 80,829 cases waiting in the crown courts at the end of June, a record and 3% up, with the median wait rising by a fifth to 203 days. Magistrates’ court cases rose 9% to 380,230. Nearly 24,000 crown court cases have now waited more than a year. The Justice Secretary Alex Norris signalled a retreat on restricting jury trials: “people have raised really important concerns… We are looking at that again.”
The retreat is the news. Curbing jury trial was the government’s central answer to the backlog, and Mr Norris now says the bill returning in October “will reflect those things that we’ve heard” — which leaves the record backlog without its headline remedy. The shadow justice secretary Nick Timothy accused ministers of spending their time “attacking our ancient right to a jury trial, rather than taking effective action to tackle the courts crisis”. Behind the numbers sits a practical collapse: a 203-day median wait means witnesses who move, memories that fade and complainants who withdraw, which is how a backlog becomes an acquittal rate. Rape and serious sexual offence cases wait longest of all. Watch what replaces the jury clause when the bill returns next month.