Criminal courts
Virtually all criminal court cases in England and Wales start in a magistrates' court. The less serious offences (summary and some triable either-way) are handled entirely in magistrates' courts.
More serious offences (triable either-way or indictable only) are passed via the magistrates' court on to the Crown Court, either for sentencing after the defendant has been found guilty or for a trial with a judge and jury. The Crown Court also receives appeals against decisions of the magistrates' courts.
The magistrates' court is the first tier of criminal courts in England and Wales and is presided over by three ‘Justices of the Peace’ (known as lay magistrates) or by a district judge.
The Crown Court is a single entity that sits at various court centres across England and Wales, it predominately deals with serious criminal cases. Unlike the magistrates' court, trials in the Crown Court have a jury to determine the guilt of defendants and a judge which can impose tougher sentences.
See criminal court statistics at MOJ for further information.
Magistrates' courts receipts
Period | Magistrates' courts receipts |
---|---|
Jan 2012 to Dec 2012 | 1,169,522 |
Jan 2013 to Dec 2013 | 1,537,272 |
Jan 2014 to Dec 2014 | 1,607,163 |
Jan 2015 to Dec 2015 | 1,591,592 |
Jan 2016 to Dec 2016 | 1,529,018 |
Jan 2017 to Dec 2017 | 1,515,548 |
Jan 2018 to Dec 2018 | 1,451,020 |
Jan 2019 to Dec 2019 | 1,443,215 |
Jan 2020 to Dec 2020 | 1,125,434 |
Jan 2021 to Dec 2021 | 1,145,937 |
Jan 2021 to Dec 2021 1,145,937
Data source Criminal court statistics
Magistrates' courts disposals
Period | Magistrates' courts disposals |
---|---|
Jan 2012 to Dec 2012 | 1,179,639 |
Jan 2013 to Dec 2013 | 1,556,261 |
Jan 2014 to Dec 2014 | 1,570,660 |
Jan 2015 to Dec 2015 | 1,594,051 |
Jan 2016 to Dec 2016 | 1,566,357 |
Jan 2017 to Dec 2017 | 1,509,022 |
Jan 2018 to Dec 2018 | 1,456,735 |
Jan 2019 to Dec 2019 | 1,441,903 |
Jan 2020 to Dec 2020 | 1,040,902 |
Jan 2021 to Dec 2021 | 1,169,301 |
Jan 2021 to Dec 2021 1,169,301
Data source Criminal court statistics
Magistrates' courts outstanding
Period | Magistrates' courts outstanding |
---|---|
Jan 2012 to Dec 2012 | 307,803 |
Jan 2013 to Dec 2013 | 288,946 |
Jan 2014 to Dec 2014 | 326,437 |
Jan 2015 to Dec 2015 | 327,228 |
Jan 2016 to Dec 2016 | 291,025 |
Jan 2017 to Dec 2017 | 297,593 |
Jan 2018 to Dec 2018 | 289,664 |
Jan 2019 to Dec 2019 | 299,831 |
Jan 2020 to Dec 2020 | 383,064 |
Jan 2021 to Dec 2021 | 359,261 |
Jan 2021 to Dec 2021 359,261
Data source Criminal court statistics
Magistrates' courts total number of trials
Period | Magistrates' courts total number of trials |
---|---|
Jan 2003 to Dec 2003 | 177,485 |
Jan 2004 to Dec 2004 | 193,608 |
Jan 2005 to Dec 2005 | 182,500 |
Jan 2006 to Dec 2006 | 180,950 |
Jan 2007 to Dec 2007 | 189,830 |
Jan 2008 to Dec 2008 | 183,511 |
Jan 2009 to Dec 2009 | 179,858 |
Jan 2010 to Dec 2010 | 179,794 |
Jan 2011 to Dec 2011 | 166,808 |
Jan 2012 to Dec 2012 | 156,671 |
Jan 2013 to Dec 2013 | 155,087 |
Jan 2014 to Dec 2014 | 158,984 |
Jan 2015 to Dec 2015 | 162,668 |
Jan 2016 to Dec 2016 | 149,423 |
Jan 2017 to Dec 2017 | 136,962 |
Jan 2018 to Dec 2018 | 123,023 |
Jan 2019 to Dec 2019 | 109,396 |
Jan 2020 to Dec 2020 | 57,388 |
Jan 2021 to Dec 2021 | 92,818 |
Jan 2021 to Dec 2021 92,818
Data source Criminal court statistics
Magistrates' courts effective trials
Period | Magistrates' courts effective trials |
---|---|
Jan 2003 to Dec 2003 | 33 % |
Jan 2004 to Dec 2004 | 37 % |
Jan 2005 to Dec 2005 | 41 % |
Jan 2006 to Dec 2006 | 44 % |
Jan 2007 to Dec 2007 | 43 % |
Jan 2008 to Dec 2008 | 43 % |
Jan 2009 to Dec 2009 | 43 % |
Jan 2010 to Dec 2010 | 43 % |
Jan 2011 to Dec 2011 | 43 % |
Jan 2012 to Dec 2012 | 44 % |
Jan 2013 to Dec 2013 | 45 % |
Jan 2014 to Dec 2014 | 45 % |
Jan 2015 to Dec 2015 | 48 % |
Jan 2016 to Dec 2016 | 47 % |
Jan 2017 to Dec 2017 | 47 % |
Jan 2018 to Dec 2018 | 46 % |
Jan 2019 to Dec 2019 | 46 % |
Jan 2020 to Dec 2020 | 44 % |
Jan 2021 to Dec 2021 | 42 % |
Jan 2021 to Dec 2021 42 %
Data source Criminal court statistics
Magistrates' courts cracked trials
Period | Magistrates' courts cracked trials |
---|---|
Jan 2003 to Dec 2003 | 38 % |
Jan 2004 to Dec 2004 | 37 % |
Jan 2005 to Dec 2005 | 37 % |
Jan 2006 to Dec 2006 | 37 % |
Jan 2007 to Dec 2007 | 38 % |
Jan 2008 to Dec 2008 | 38 % |
Jan 2009 to Dec 2009 | 38 % |
Jan 2010 to Dec 2010 | 39 % |
Jan 2011 to Dec 2011 | 39 % |
Jan 2012 to Dec 2012 | 39 % |
Jan 2013 to Dec 2013 | 38 % |
Jan 2014 to Dec 2014 | 37 % |
Jan 2015 to Dec 2015 | 37 % |
Jan 2016 to Dec 2016 | 38 % |
Jan 2017 to Dec 2017 | 38 % |
Jan 2018 to Dec 2018 | 39 % |
Jan 2019 to Dec 2019 | 39 % |
Jan 2020 to Dec 2020 | 36 % |
Jan 2021 to Dec 2021 | 36 % |
Jan 2021 to Dec 2021 36 %
Data source Criminal court statistics
Magistrates' courts ineffective trials
Period | Magistrates' courts ineffective trials |
---|---|
Jan 2003 to Dec 2003 | 29 % |
Jan 2004 to Dec 2004 | 26 % |
Jan 2005 to Dec 2005 | 22 % |
Jan 2006 to Dec 2006 | 19 % |
Jan 2007 to Dec 2007 | 19 % |
Jan 2008 to Dec 2008 | 18 % |
Jan 2009 to Dec 2009 | 19 % |
Jan 2010 to Dec 2010 | 18 % |
Jan 2011 to Dec 2011 | 18 % |
Jan 2012 to Dec 2012 | 17 % |
Jan 2013 to Dec 2013 | 18 % |
Jan 2014 to Dec 2014 | 18 % |
Jan 2015 to Dec 2015 | 15 % |
Jan 2016 to Dec 2016 | 15 % |
Jan 2017 to Dec 2017 | 15 % |
Jan 2018 to Dec 2018 | 16 % |
Jan 2019 to Dec 2019 | 15 % |
Jan 2020 to Dec 2020 | 20 % |
Jan 2021 to Dec 2021 | 22 % |
Jan 2021 to Dec 2021 22 %
Data source Criminal court statistics
Crown court receipts
Period | Crown court receipts |
---|---|
Jan 2014 to Dec 2014 | 135,552 |
Jan 2015 to Dec 2015 | 126,733 |
Jan 2016 to Dec 2016 | 114,805 |
Jan 2017 to Dec 2017 | 111,798 |
Jan 2018 to Dec 2018 | 99,994 |
Jan 2019 to Dec 2019 | 104,563 |
Jan 2020 to Dec 2020 | 96,957 |
Jan 2021 to Dec 2021 | 97,993 |
Jan 2021 to Dec 2021 97,993
Data source Criminal court statistics
Crown court disposals
Period | Crown court disposals |
---|---|
Jan 2014 to Dec 2014 | 129,017 |
Jan 2015 to Dec 2015 | 130,760 |
Jan 2016 to Dec 2016 | 123,230 |
Jan 2017 to Dec 2017 | 115,711 |
Jan 2018 to Dec 2018 | 105,765 |
Jan 2019 to Dec 2019 | 99,610 |
Jan 2020 to Dec 2020 | 78,162 |
Jan 2021 to Dec 2021 | 95,507 |
Jan 2021 to Dec 2021 95,507
Data source Criminal court statistics
Crown court outstanding
A count of all cases where one or more offence remains incomplete. The data is a snapshot based on outstanding cases on the final day of the reporting period. This is a count of live cases on the system and is not a calculation based on receipts and disposals. Transferred cases may be double counted for a period while they show in both sending and receiving courts; offences subsequently entered in error may change the categorisation of the case.
Period | Crown court outstanding |
---|---|
Jan 2014 to Dec 2014 | 56,148 |
Jan 2015 to Dec 2015 | 51,907 |
Jan 2016 to Dec 2016 | 43,291 |
Jan 2017 to Dec 2017 | 39,157 |
Jan 2018 to Dec 2018 | 33,255 |
Jan 2019 to Dec 2019 | 38,271 |
Jan 2020 to Dec 2020 | 57,093 |
Jan 2021 to Dec 2021 | 58,818 |
Jan 2021 to Dec 2021 58,818
Data source Criminal court statistics
Crown court total number of trials
Period | Crown court total number of trials |
---|---|
Jan 2014 to Dec 2014 | 35,971 |
Jan 2015 to Dec 2015 | 39,035 |
Jan 2016 to Dec 2016 | 37,339 |
Jan 2017 to Dec 2017 | 34,579 |
Jan 2018 to Dec 2018 | 29,583 |
Jan 2019 to Dec 2019 | 24,276 |
Jan 2020 to Dec 2020 | 10,621 |
Jan 2021 to Dec 2021 | 21,805 |
Jan 2021 to Dec 2021 21,805
Data source Criminal court statistics
Crown courts effective trials
Period | Crown courts effective trials |
---|---|
Jan 2014 to Dec 2014 | 50 % |
Jan 2015 to Dec 2015 | 50 % |
Jan 2016 to Dec 2016 | 51 % |
Jan 2017 to Dec 2017 | 51 % |
Jan 2018 to Dec 2018 | 51 % |
Jan 2019 to Dec 2019 | 50 % |
Jan 2020 to Dec 2020 | 51 % |
Jan 2021 to Dec 2021 | 48 % |
Jan 2021 to Dec 2021 48 %
Data source Criminal court statistics
Crown courts cracked trials
Period | Crown courts cracked trials |
---|---|
Jan 2014 to Dec 2014 | 35 % |
Jan 2015 to Dec 2015 | 35 % |
Jan 2016 to Dec 2016 | 34 % |
Jan 2017 to Dec 2017 | 34 % |
Jan 2018 to Dec 2018 | 35 % |
Jan 2019 to Dec 2019 | 34 % |
Jan 2020 to Dec 2020 | 28 % |
Jan 2021 to Dec 2021 | 29 % |
Jan 2021 to Dec 2021 29 %
Data source Criminal court statistics
Crown courts ineffective trials
Period | Crown courts ineffective trials |
---|---|
Jan 2014 to Dec 2014 | 15 % |
Jan 2015 to Dec 2015 | 15 % |
Jan 2016 to Dec 2016 | 15 % |
Jan 2017 to Dec 2017 | 15 % |
Jan 2018 to Dec 2018 | 14 % |
Jan 2019 to Dec 2019 | 16 % |
Jan 2020 to Dec 2020 | 21 % |
Jan 2021 to Dec 2021 | 23 % |
Jan 2021 to Dec 2021 23 %
Data source Criminal court statistics