Crown courts at ‘breaking point’ as backlog reaches new record high
The Crown Courts are at the “Breaking Point ve and when a participation reaches a new record level, there will be 100,000 extraordinary criminal cases until 2028.
The official figures released on Thursday show that there are 76,957 open lawsuits with an increase of 11 percent at the end of March compared to the previous year. One quarter of them – about 18,093 cases – was already a year or more open.
Last month, Independent The accumulated works are listed for the defendants and their victims for four years for justice and the trials announced for 2029 because they are separated from the victims.
In order to reduce the burden in the crown courts, Sir Brian Leveson is prepared to publish a report on a “generation once” reforms in the system of courts.
Sarah Sackman KC MP, Minister of Courts and Law Services, who responded to the latest figures, said: “Despite the hard work of the people in the criminal justice system, the situation in our crown court reaches the breaking point.
“We inherited the court crisis with a continuously growing accumulated function that would reach 100,000 before 2028 with the current increase rate.
“It is unacceptable that any victim should wait for years to see justice, and it is clear that the status quo does not work.
“Only radical reform can provide faster justice for the victims, so we asked Sir Brian Leveson to make suggestions for a generation change once to be published in the coming weeks.”
The government asked Sir Brian to think of great revisions, including introducing some of the cases that were tried by a judge and two magistrates instead of giving more punishment authority and a long jury hearing.
It will also evaluate how new technology, including artificial intelligence, can be used to increase productivity in the courts.
However, the legal association has only warned “continuous investment ve through the justice sector and will overcome the accumulated work by arguing that a new court will“ waste money, time and energy ”.
The trial of a 38 -year -old mother from South London is among those who are confronted with the delay of “jaw fall” delays after being listed for January 3, 2029.
At a two -day hearing at Woolwich Crown Court, he will face property charges to supply cannabis.
In another case, three days of three days, three men in the same court, on January 15, at the same time because of the theft of motor vehicles will be tried.
The cases were defined by the lawyer Stephen Nelson, who represented women and one of the men, as “simple and not complex ve and said that delays were“ jaw dropping ”. He warned that a customer was unhealthy and warned that his case could not live to see that he was tried in 2029.
In March, the Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced that judges will sit collectively for 110,000 days next year, and that they would help victims to see justice faster than the previously allocated for the previous period.
