Access to justice
Court capacity
Crown court disposals
A count of the number of cases only when all the offences have been completed (following a validation process) in the reporting period. Disposals figures in this report may change if the case results are entered after the first collation of the data.
Jan - Dec 2022
91,492
Data source
Criminal court statistics quarterly
Published: 30 March 2023. Next publication: 29 June 2023 9:30am.
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.
31 Dec 2022
62,440
Data source
Criminal court statistics quarterly
Published: 30 March 2023. Next publication: 29 June 2023 9:30am.
Crown courts cracked trials
Cracked trials as a percentage of total trials.
| Period | Crown courts cracked trials |
|---|---|
| Jan - Dec 2007 | 42% |
| Jan - Dec 2008 | 41% |
| Jan - Dec 2009 | 42% |
| Jan - Dec 2010 | 43% |
| Jan - Dec 2011 | 40% |
| Jan - Dec 2012 | 37% |
| Jan - Dec 2013 | 35% |
| Jan - Dec 2014 | 35% |
| Jan - Dec 2015 | 35% |
| Jan - Dec 2016 | 34% |
| Jan - Dec 2017 | 34% |
| Jan - Dec 2018 | 35% |
| Jan - Dec 2019 | 34% |
| Jan - Dec 2020 | 28% |
| Jan - Dec 2021 | 29% |
| Jan - Dec 2022 | 26% |
Jan - Dec 2022
26%
Data source
Criminal court statistics quarterly
Published: 30 March 2023. Next publication: 29 June 2023 9:30am.
Crown courts ineffective trials
Ineffective trials as a percentage of total trials.
| Period | Crown courts ineffective trials |
|---|---|
| Jan - Dec 2007 | 12% |
| Jan - Dec 2008 | 12% |
| Jan - Dec 2009 | 13% |
| Jan - Dec 2010 | 14% |
| Jan - Dec 2011 | 14% |
| Jan - Dec 2012 | 14% |
| Jan - Dec 2013 | 14% |
| Jan - Dec 2014 | 15% |
| Jan - Dec 2015 | 15% |
| Jan - Dec 2016 | 15% |
| Jan - Dec 2017 | 15% |
| Jan - Dec 2018 | 14% |
| Jan - Dec 2019 | 16% |
| Jan - Dec 2020 | 21% |
| Jan - Dec 2021 | 23% |
| Jan - Dec 2022 | 37% |
Jan - Dec 2022
37%
Data source
Criminal court statistics quarterly
Published: 30 March 2023. Next publication: 29 June 2023 9:30am.
Magistrates' courts disposals
A count of the number of cases only when all the offences have been completed (following a validation process) in the reporting period. Disposals figures in this report may change if the case results are entered after the first collation of the data.
| Period | Magistrates' courts disposals |
|---|---|
| Jan - Dec 2012 | 1,179,639 |
| Jan - Dec 2013 | 1,556,261 |
| Jan - Dec 2014 | 1,570,660 |
| Jan - Dec 2015 | 1,594,051 |
| Jan - Dec 2016 | 1,566,357 |
| Jan - Dec 2017 | 1,509,022 |
| Jan - Dec 2018 | 1,456,735 |
| Jan - Dec 2019 | 1,441,903 |
| Jan - Dec 2020 | 1,040,944 |
| Jan - Dec 2021 | 1,170,234 |
| Jan - Dec 2022 | 1,246,845 |
Jan - Dec 2022
1,246,845
Data source
Criminal court statistics quarterly
Published: 30 March 2023. Next publication: 29 June 2023 9:30am.
Employment tribunals disposals
| Period | Employment tribunals disposals |
|---|---|
| Apr 2007 - Mar 2008 | 81,857 |
| Apr 2008 - Mar 2009 | 92,018 |
| Apr 2009 - Mar 2010 | 112,364 |
| Apr 2010 - Mar 2011 | 122,792 |
| Apr 2011 - Mar 2012 | 110,769 |
| Apr 2012 - Mar 2013 | 107,420 |
| Apr 2013 - Mar 2014 | 148,387 |
| Apr 2014 - Mar 2015 | 312,773 |
| Apr 2015 - Mar 2016 | 49,529 |
| Apr 2016 - Mar 2017 | 45,177 |
| Apr 2017 - Mar 2018 | 38,671 |
| Apr 2018 - Mar 2019 | 43,594 |
| Apr 2019 - Mar 2020 | 50,217 |
| Apr 2020 - Mar 2021 | 41,622 |
Apr 2020 - Mar 2021
41,622
Data source
Tribunals statistics quarterly
Published: 9 March 2023. Next publication: 08 June 2023 9:30am. Update expected here by 15 July 2023.
Victim experience
Mean days from receipt at Crown Court to completion
Completion means any outcome, including guilty pleas, acquittals and convictions. Data from the Crown Court timeliness tool (all offences, all cases closed).
| Period | Mean days from receipt at Crown Court to completion |
|---|---|
| Q1 (Jan-Mar) 2014 | 148 |
| Q2 (Apr-Jun) 2014 | 154 |
| Q3 (Jul-Sep) 2014 | 160 |
| Q4 (Oct-Dec) 2014 | 169 |
| Q1 (Jan-Mar) 2015 | 171 |
| Q2 (Apr-Jun) 2015 | 179 |
| Q3 (Jul-Sep) 2015 | 177 |
| Q4 (Oct-Dec) 2015 | 181 |
| Q1 (Jan-Mar) 2016 | 172 |
| Q2 (Apr-Jun) 2016 | 175 |
| Q3 (Jul-Sep) 2016 | 169 |
| Q4 (Oct-Dec) 2016 | 169 |
| Q1 (Jan-Mar) 2017 | 164 |
| Q2 (Apr-Jun) 2017 | 160 |
| Q3 (Jul-Sep) 2017 | 157 |
| Q4 (Oct-Dec) 2017 | 160 |
| Q1 (Jan-Mar) 2018 | 157 |
| Q2 (Apr-Jun) 2018 | 160 |
| Q3 (Jul-Sep) 2018 | 156 |
| Q4 (Oct-Dec) 2018 | 157 |
| Q1 (Jan-Mar) 2019 | 151 |
| Q2 (Apr-Jun) 2019 | 144 |
| Q3 (Jul-Sep) 2019 | 140 |
| Q4 (Oct-Dec) 2019 | 151 |
| Q1 (Jan-Mar) 2020 | 144 |
| Q2 (Apr-Jun) 2020 | 142 |
| Q3 (Jul-Sep) 2020 | 157 |
| Q4 (Oct-Dec) 2020 | 157 |
| Q1 (Jan-Mar) 2021 | 177 |
| Q2 (Apr-Jun) 2021 | 203 |
| Q3 (Jul-Sep) 2021 | 220 |
| Q4 (Oct-Dec) 2021 | 233 |
| Q1 (Jan-Mar) 2022 | 235 |
| Q2 (Apr-Jun) 2022 | 230 |
| Q3 (Jul-Sep) 2022 | 225 |
| Q4 (Oct-Dec) 2022 | 248 |
Q4 (Oct-Dec) 2022
248
Up 23 days from Jul-Sep 2022
Data source
Criminal court statistics quarterly
Published: 30 March 2023. Next publication: 29 June 2023 9:30am.
Number of receipts of adult rape cases at the Crown Court
Cases arriving at the Crown Court. Data from the Crown Court cases received, disposed and outstanding tool.
| Period | Number of receipts of adult rape cases at the Crown Court |
|---|---|
| Q1 (Jan-Mar) 2014 | 520 |
| Q2 (Apr-Jun) 2014 | 509 |
| Q3 (Jul-Sep) 2014 | 511 |
| Q4 (Oct-Dec) 2014 | 537 |
| Q1 (Jan-Mar) 2015 | 551 |
| Q2 (Apr-Jun) 2015 | 525 |
| Q3 (Jul-Sep) 2015 | 550 |
| Q4 (Oct-Dec) 2015 | 657 |
| Q1 (Jan-Mar) 2016 | 588 |
| Q2 (Apr-Jun) 2016 | 555 |
| Q3 (Jul-Sep) 2016 | 520 |
| Q4 (Oct-Dec) 2016 | 549 |
| Q1 (Jan-Mar) 2017 | 507 |
| Q2 (Apr-Jun) 2017 | 489 |
| Q3 (Jul-Sep) 2017 | 493 |
| Q4 (Oct-Dec) 2017 | 405 |
| Q1 (Jan-Mar) 2018 | 251 |
| Q2 (Apr-Jun) 2018 | 189 |
| Q3 (Jul-Sep) 2018 | 211 |
| Q4 (Oct-Dec) 2018 | 219 |
| Q1 (Jan-Mar) 2019 | 228 |
| Q2 (Apr-Jun) 2019 | 225 |
| Q3 (Jul-Sep) 2019 | 219 |
| Q4 (Oct-Dec) 2019 | 250 |
| Q1 (Jan-Mar) 2020 | 264 |
| Q2 (Apr-Jun) 2020 | 199 |
| Q3 (Jul-Sep) 2020 | 306 |
| Q4 (Oct-Dec) 2020 | 307 |
| Q1 (Jan-Mar) 2021 | 313 |
| Q2 (Apr-Jun) 2021 | 346 |
| Q3 (Jul-Sep) 2021 | 330 |
| Q4 (Oct-Dec) 2021 | 323 |
| Q1 (Jan-Mar) 2022 | 433 |
| Q2 (Apr-Jun) 2022 | 458 |
| Q3 (Jul-Sep) 2022 | 473 |
| Q4 (Oct-Dec) 2022 | 509 |
Q4 (Oct-Dec) 2022
509
Up 36 from Jul-Sep 2022
Data source
Criminal court statistics quarterly
Published: 30 March 2023. Next publication: 29 June 2023 9:30am.
Civil courts - total judgments
Total number of judgments in the county courts. Some civil cases are resolved via mediation or settled out of court and don't proceed to a judgement.
| Period | Civil courts - total judgments |
|---|---|
| Jan - Dec 2009 | 982,464 |
| Jan - Dec 2010 | 794,311 |
| Jan - Dec 2011 | 748,586 |
| Jan - Dec 2012 | 663,457 |
| Jan - Dec 2013 | 667,168 |
| Jan - Dec 2014 | 831,541 |
| Jan - Dec 2015 | 867,665 |
| Jan - Dec 2016 | 1,055,035 |
| Jan - Dec 2017 | 1,284,364 |
| Jan - Dec 2018 | 1,291,142 |
| Jan - Dec 2019 | 1,323,750 |
| Jan - Dec 2020 | 727,438 |
| Jan - Dec 2021 | 980,474 |
| Jan - Dec 2022 | 901,278 |
Jan - Dec 2022
901,278
Data source
Civil justice statistics (quarterly)
Published: 1 June 2023. Next publication: 07 September 2023 9:30am.
Family court - total cases disposed
Total cases disposed at family court.
| Period | Family court - total cases disposed |
|---|---|
| Jan - Dec 2011 | 233,552 |
| Jan - Dec 2012 | 234,772 |
| Jan - Dec 2013 | 240,753 |
| Jan - Dec 2014 | 248,823 |
| Jan - Dec 2015 | 221,568 |
| Jan - Dec 2016 | 228,980 |
| Jan - Dec 2017 | 226,998 |
| Jan - Dec 2018 | 214,318 |
| Jan - Dec 2019 | 234,378 |
| Jan - Dec 2020 | 225,984 |
| Jan - Dec 2021 | 249,731 |
Jan - Dec 2021
249,731
Data for 2022 is not available. Please refer to the publication.
Data source
Family court statistics quarterly
Published: 30 March 2023. Next publication: 29 June 2023 9:30am.
Tribunals disposals - overall
| Period | Tribunals disposals - overall |
|---|---|
| Apr 2007 - Mar 2008 | 550,148 |
| Apr 2008 - Mar 2009 | 568,671 |
| Apr 2009 - Mar 2010 | 649,920 |
| Apr 2010 - Mar 2011 | 726,939 |
| Apr 2011 - Mar 2012 | 748,820 |
| Apr 2012 - Mar 2013 | 749,283 |
| Apr 2013 - Mar 2014 | 878,007 |
| Apr 2014 - Mar 2015 | 649,068 |
| Apr 2015 - Mar 2016 | 372,926 |
| Apr 2016 - Mar 2017 | 394,102 |
| Apr 2017 - Mar 2018 | 407,638 |
| Apr 2018 - Mar 2019 | 400,816 |
| Apr 2019 - Mar 2020 | 378,629 |
| Apr 2020 - Mar 2021 | 265,628 |
Apr 2020 - Mar 2021
265,628
Data source
Tribunals statistics quarterly
Published: 9 March 2023. Next publication: 08 June 2023 9:30am. Update expected here by 15 July 2023.
Legal aid
Legal aid - overall annual expenditure (£m)
The closed-claim measure of expenditure shows the total value of payments made to legal aid providers in relation to pieces of work that are completed in each period, even where a portion of the work may have taken place over previous periods. Most expenditure figures in the legal aid statistics are shown on this basis.
| Period | Legal aid - overall annual expenditure (£m) |
|---|---|
| Apr 2009 - Mar 2010 | 2,133 (£m) |
| Apr 2010 - Mar 2011 | 2,156 (£m) |
| Apr 2011 - Mar 2012 | 2,120 (£m) |
| Apr 2012 - Mar 2013 | 2,096 (£m) |
| Apr 2013 - Mar 2014 | 2,012 (£m) |
| Apr 2014 - Mar 2015 | 1,807 (£m) |
| Apr 2015 - Mar 2016 | 1,638 (£m) |
| Apr 2016 - Mar 2017 | 1,610 (£m) |
| Apr 2017 - Mar 2018 | 1,648 (£m) |
| Apr 2018 - Mar 2019 | 1,659 (£m) |
| Apr 2019 - Mar 2020 | 1,672 (£m) |
| Apr 2020 - Mar 2021 | 1,342 (£m) |
| Apr 2021 - Mar 2022 | 1,641 (£m) |
Apr 2021 - Mar 2022
1,641 (£m)
Up 298 (£m) from 2020-21
Data source
Legal aid statistics (quarterly)
Published: 30 March 2023. Next publication: 29 June 2023 9:30am.