Criminal court statistics quarterly: July to September 2023
Type and volume of cases received and processed through the criminal court system of England and Wales, including statistics on case timeliness.
Applies to England and Wales
Documents
Details
This is the quarterly Q3 2023 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 September 2023.
The volume of receipts in the Crown court has continued to increase in the latest quarter and represents the highest volume in over two years. Although disposals have also increased (to their highest level since 2019), the fact that receipts exceed disposals means the outstanding caseload has grown in the quarter. Latest management information from HMCTS indicates this continues into the autumn with receipts still exceeding disposals in October.
The effective trial rate remains stable in both magistrates’ and Crown Courts; and the average length of time from offence to completion (end-to-end timeliness) decreased at both magistrates’ and Crown Court.
Criminal court statistics quarterly, October to December 2023
The next criminal court statistics publication is scheduled for release on 28th March 2024.
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.