Justice Delayed: Unraveling the Court Backlog Crisis in England and Wales
Over 79,600 criminal cases are currently stuck in a backlog of the courts in England and Wales, with projections indicating this number could swell to 100,000 by 2028. This alarming issue poses severe implications for victims and defendants, as many will have to wait years for justice, with some cases not expected to progress before 2030. In response, the government has proposed sweeping reforms to the criminal courts, including the controversial move to remove juries from specific trials, undermining a bedrock principle of the justice system in a bid to expedite proceedings.
The significant rise in cases lingering for over two years can be traced back to funding cuts initiated in 2010, which have progressively constrained the Ministry of Justice’s budget from £9 billion to about £13 billion today, equating to £4.5 billion less in real terms compared to what it would have been had it matched the growth of other government departments. In particular, austerity measures led to the closure of numerous courtrooms, causing further delays in case processing. The Covid-19 pandemic exacerbated these problems, as court closures and social distancing measures ground court operations to a halt, leading to a massive accumulation of cases.
The closure of Blackfriars Crown Court, a pivotal venue for serious organized crime, left the Snaresbrook court to bear the burden, which has seen its backlog surge from 1,500 to over 4,200 cases post-pandemic. The statistics tell a stark story: prior to the pandemic, only 5% of violence cases had been pending for more than a year, impacting a significant 25% of such cases today.
To tackle the backlog during the pandemic, the Nightingale courts were introduced to maintain some continuity in hearings, yet they were limited in their operations and are set to close by March 2026. Some courts have even had to reopen after previous shutdowns, like Chichester’s Crown Court, illustrating the chaotic shifts within the system.
On the legal aid side, funding cuts and frozen budgets over 25 years have led to a decline in available barristers willing to take on criminal cases, a crucial factor in ensuring fair trials and smoother case progressions. The National Audit Office noted a massive drop in legal aid spending, with £728 million less allocated between 2012-2013 and 2022-2023. This crisis culminated in extensive strike action by defence barristers in 2022, further stalling court proceedings.
Despite promises of more policing resources, no parallel planning was made to accommodate the increased number of suspects resulting from more officers on the beat, leading to more prosecutions without a commensurate increase in court capacity. The digitalization of evidence has also stretched timelines, with complex cases requiring substantial time for analysis before trial.
Worryingly, the backlog is also inflating the prison population, with nearly 17,700 individuals currently on remand—almost double the number from 2019—accounting for around 20% of the prison population. This severe backlog not only hampers judicial fairness but also pressures the prison system to the brink of overflow, highlighting a destructive cycle of delays within the entire criminal justice system.