Court backlog ‘absolutely dire’ and will get worse before it gets better, minister admits
Britain’s court backlog will “get worse before it gets better” as the government tries to ease the “horrible” state of the criminal justice system, a minister has admitted.
David Lammy has promised to fix Britain’s broken judicial system with an overhaul that will include digital modernisation, removing the cap on court sitting days and scrapping jury trial cases that carry sentences of three years or less.
The government hopes the reforms, which are expected to be introduced by 2028, will eliminate the growing backlog within the UK’s justice system.
Justice minister Sarah Sackman KC said the government “will not have to do anything other than throw the kitchen sink” at the system to reduce the backlog, but conceded things “will get worse before they get better”.
“Things get worse before they get better, but under this plan they start to get better by the end of this parliament,” he said.
“By my calculation, that number will reach 100,000 cases before we start to see a reduction in the backlog, but I’m very candid about that.”
The current case backlog is 80,000 and modeling predicts this will reach 100,000 next year and 200,000 by 2035 if no reforms are implemented.
Ms Sackman KC said: “These are big numbers and in every one of these cases there is a victim, there is a defendant, there are lives stopped and the situation is absolutely dire.”
Ministers said they hoped that while there was no “magic solution”, the three “pillars” – reform, investment and modernization – could overcome the backlog.
Modeling predicts that if all elements are implemented, the backlog will be 83,000 by the end of parliament, then fall below 50,000 by 2035.
Ms Sackman KC said: “We put victims at the center of everything we do… but I need to get on the same level as the victims. “The scale of the growing crisis we have inherited will not change overnight but we are pulling every lever.
“They will eventually start to see that this parliament is moving in the right direction, so they can trust that the government is doing everything it can. But it will take the better part of a decade for cases to recover and I fully appreciate that is not good enough for the victims who are in the system here and now.”
Some of the reforms will see the cap on the number of crown court sitting days removed after the government and the judiciary agreed a deal worth £2.7bn for tribunals and tribunals for 2026/27, up from £2.5bn last year.
An investment of £287 million will also be made to repair the dilapidated courthouse.
Victims commissioner Claire Waxman suggested abolishing jury trials could help secure convictions in rape cases.
“Victims often see before the jury that many myths and stereotypes are entrenched in society, resulting in prejudice and stereotypes, which can also affect their case.”
He said he was “comfortable” with ending ancient rights.
“We can’t stay in the past. The criminal justice system is very different from 1215, so we need to adapt. We can’t leave victims waiting five, six, seven years for justice in the criminal justice system.”
The justice secretary also spoke at the Microsoft AI Tour in London on Tuesday, where he backed digital modernization across the court system, including greater use of artificial intelligence.
Mr Lammy resisted demands from Labor MPs that restricting jury trials be an “update clause”, arguing that “fundamental change is needed”.
Addressing the issue, Lord Brian Leveson, the retired judge whose report led to the reforms, said: “Changing the jury trial threshold changes the culture and dynamic of advising clients who will always plead guilty at some stage.”
He added: “The deputy prime minister said trials were taking twice as long and that you should ask whether shoplifting should allow trial by jury. When I was a young lawyer in the 1970s, when he was just a newborn now, I often had two hearings in a day. No trial lasted less than a few days.”
As part of sweeping reforms, Mr Lammy had previously announced plans to scrap juries in both cases, which would purportedly lead to prison sentences of three years or less.
These include crimes such as theft, threats to kill, affray and theft. Serious crimes, including murder, robbery, grievous bodily harm and rape, will still go before juries.
David Ford, president of the Magistrates’ Association, was disappointed that Mr Lammy did not address reforms to magistrates’ courts, which will see more cases heard.
He welcomed the extra money, admitting “disappointment” but added: “It also has to do with the recruitment of judges, the retention of judges and the recruitment of legal advisers. We are losing too much.”
He warned that the number of judges alone would need to increase by 50 percent over the next few years, from 14,000 to 21,000.
