Crown Court Backlog 2024-02-20
2024-02-20
TAGS
Response quality
Questions & Answers
Q1
Partial Answer
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Context
The MP noted the Crown courts now have a backlog of over 65,000 cases. Experts say this capacity does not match demand.
What progress has been made on reducing the backlog of cases in the Crown court? If that is not bad enough, experts say the courts' capacity to deal with processing cases will not keep pace with demand. Does the Minister agree that this leads to too many victims giving up on our justice system?
No, I do not accept that that means we are giving up on the system. The Government continue to invest in every single lever that we can pull to increase capacity in our criminal justice system. Given the additional work that the judiciary is doing, the disposal rate in our Crown courts is up and we are seeing record levels of disposals.
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Assessment & feedback
The MP asked about victims giving up on pursuing justice due to the backlog and inadequate capacity; the Minister did not directly acknowledge this issue or propose a solution addressing it.
Response accuracy
Q2
Partial Answer
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Context
The MP highlighted that rape and serious sexual assault cases now make up one in seven of the backlog, with an average wait time for trial after charge at 18 months.
Rape and serious sexual assault cases have increased to 10.3% of all Crown court cases and make up nearly 10,000 of them. The average wait time for a trial has risen to 18 months. There is also a tenfold increase in adjourned cases due to the fall in the number of RASSO prosecution or defence barristers. How will this staffing crisis across the criminal justice system be fixed?
The figure for the average time for a RASSO case is not true. The Government have continued to invest in ensuring that RASSO cases are brought forward. Listing is a matter for the judiciary, who ensure vulnerable victims are dealt with expeditiously. We continue to invest in the legal aid system, recently increasing fees and engaging with the criminal legal aid review.
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Assessment & feedback
The MP asked about fixing the staffing crisis and addressing wait times for RASSO cases; the Minister did not directly address these issues or propose concrete solutions.
Response accuracy
Q3
Partial Answer
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Context
The MP noted that rape and serious sexual assault cases now make up one in seven of the backlog, with an average wait time for trial after charge at 18 months.
Rape and serious sexual assault cases have increased to 10.3% of all Crown court cases and there are nearly 10,000 of them. The average wait time for a trial has risen to 18 months. There is also a tenfold increase in adjourned cases due to the fall in the number of RASSO prosecution or defence barristers. How will this staffing crisis across the criminal justice system be fixed?
The figure for the average time for a RASSO case is not true. The Government have continued to invest in ensuring that RASSO cases are brought forward. Listing is a matter for the judiciary, who ensure vulnerable victims are dealt with expeditiously. We continue to invest in the legal aid system, recently increasing fees and engaging with the criminal legal aid review.
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Assessment & feedback
The MP asked about fixing the staffing crisis and addressing wait times for RASSO cases; the Minister did not directly address these issues or propose concrete solutions.
Response accuracy