Criminal court statistics quarterly: January to March 2022
Type and volume of cases received and processed through the criminal court system of England and Wales, including statistics on case timeliness. Also includes statistics on the use of language interpreter and translation services in courts and tribunals, England and Wales.
Applies to England and Wales
Documents
Details
This is the quarterly Q1 2022 criminal courts statistics publication.
The statistics here focus on key trends in case volume and progression through the criminal court system in England and Wales. This also includes:
- Experimental statistics on ‘the use of language interpreter and translation services in courts and tribunals;
Additional data tools and CSVs have also been provided.
Statisticians comment
This report covers the period to the end of March 2022 and continues to reflect court recovery following the restricted operation of courts in the earlier stages of the pandemic.
Disposals at both the magistrates’ courts and Crown Courts increased on the previous quarter, remaining above receipts and causing the outstanding caseload to fall. Latest management information from Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal Service (HMCTS) to April 2022 shows a small increase in outstanding volumes at the Crown Court beyond Q1 2022.
The proportion of trials which are rescheduled on the day of trial (‘ineffective’) at the magistrates’ courts and Crown Court has remained above pre-COVID levels.
Timeliness estimates, which reflect the length of time a case has taken at the point of completion and therefore covers the period where the pandemic disrupted court processes, showed a mixed picture. In the magistrates’ court, timeliness increased and returned close to peaks seen in 2021. Whereas at the Crown Court timeliness has improved, with small falls seen from peaks in Q3 2021 – however estimates remain well above durations seen pre-COVID.
Criminal court statistics quarterly, April to June 2022
The next criminal court statistics publication is scheduled for release on 29 September 2022.
Pre-release
In addition to Ministry of Justice (MOJ) professional and production staff, pre-release access to the quarterly statistics of up to 24 hours is granted to the following post holders:
Ministry of Justice
Permanent Secretary; Director General, Policy; Director General, Performance, Strategy and Analysis; Director, Access to Justice; Director General, Chief Financial Officer; Director, Criminal Justice Policy; Deputy Director, Criminal Courts Policy; Criminal Court Reform Lead; Courts and Tribunal Recovery Unit; Jurisdictional and Operational Support Manager; Head of Data and Analytical Services; Chief Statistician; 5 Press Officers.
Her Majesty’s Court and Tribunals Service
Chief Executive, HMCTS; Deputy Chief Executive, HMCTS; Deputy Director of Legal Services, Court Users and Summary Justice Reform; Head of Operational Performance; Head of Criminal Enforcement team, HMCTS; Head of data and management information, HMCTS; Head of Management Information Systems; Head of Communications; Head of News; Jurisdictional Operation manager and Head of Contracted Services and Performance for HMCTS Operations Directorate.