Bar Council reacts to Leveson review of criminal courts and latest court statistics

Following the publication of the latest criminal court statistics and the government’s announcement to appoint Sir Brian Leveson to lead an independent review of criminal courts, Sam Townend KC, Chair of the Bar Council, said:

“The figures out today show the perilous state of the criminal justice system. Criminal barristers are already working at full capacity. They work the longest hours in our profession, report the lowest wellbeing and we are extremely concerned about burnout at the criminal Bar.

“Earlier this year we called for the establishment of a review of the criminal justice system and welcome the government's announcement today. We entirely agree with the government's aims to reduce the court backlogs, speed up trials and rebuild public confidence in the criminal justice system. 

“Those working in the crumbling justice system have been propping it up with goodwill at the expense of their wellbeing and personal lives for too long. The number of trials cancelled on the day because legal professionals are not available has risen dramatically since COVID. This lets victims, witnesses, defendants, professionals and the public down. If the backlog is to have any chance of being cleared, we need immediate, targeted and sustained investment.

“The courts crisis, illustrated by the latest figures, is the result of decades of cuts and a severe lack of investment. To address the multitude of challenges, we need some new solutions, but additional funding is also desperately needed.

“The Leveson review will present initial recommendations by spring 2025 and we are fully committed to engaging with the review process, but we also need urgent action from government now to avert more crisis.”

The Bar Council recommends that:

• The Criminal Courts should be resourced to sit at the maximum capacity - many court rooms are currently sitting idle with judges available to sit.
• Measures are needed to prevent the exodus of barristers from criminal practice, this requires the establishment of an independent fee review body reporting annually (just like judges have), and additional fees. This needs to focus on making working life as a criminal barrister better including through more predictable, consistent court practices.
• A barrister needs to be included in the review group assisting Sir Brian Leveson.

Our immediate analysis of the statistics out today shows:

• There is a growing backlogs of 73,105 cases at the Crown Court (this is the highest ever level on record) and 327,228 at the Magistrates’ Court (this is the highest since Q3 2020).
• The number of disposals in the Crown Court have been increasing – up 50% from Q3 2022 (19,691 to 29,502 in Q3 2024) but the number of receipts has also been increasing. Receipts are up from 23,530 in Q3 2022 to 31,683 in Q3 2024. This is a 35% increase.
• The percentage of effective trials was consistently at around 50% before the pandemic. It’s now at 43%. All ineffective trials waste court time.
• Timeliness is improving – the median time from offence to completion fell by 8% in the last year. But note this is only for new cases that completed – not for cases stuck in the backlog.
• There are 3,291 adult rape cases in the backlog – up 460% from 588 cases in Q3 2019.
• The Crown Court backlog is up 10% in the last year alone (66,426 in Q3 2023 to 73,105 in Q3 2024).
• The Crown Court backlog is up 92% on the pre-pandemic baseline (38,016 in Q4 2019). There were some small decreases during 2021 and 2022 but it has since increased steadily since the beginning of 2023.