A highly-damaging backlog in the Crown courts will rise to 72,000 cases within three years unless the Chancellor agrees to more than £2billion in extra funding, it has emerged.
The crisis is likely to carry on ‘for many years’, with a huge impact on victims of crime, government spending watchdog the National Audit Office (NAO) said.
It revealed official forecasts drawn up by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) show Crown courts will have a backlog of 72,000 cases by November 2024 – up from 60,000 currently – if funding remains at the same level as this year.
A highly-damaging backlog in the Crown courts will rise to 72,000 cases within three years unless the Chancellor agrees to more than £2billion in extra funding
Even in the best-case scenario, in which billions of dollars are approved by Chancellor Rishi Sonak, the waiting lists will be at 48,000 cases in England and Wales at the end 2024.
By comparison, the number of outstanding cases was 41,000 just before the pandemic in March last year when the system was ‘already strained’ due to cuts, the NAO said.
The MoJ has calculated it needs £500million to expand the Nightingale courts system plus £1.7billion for extra legal aid and other costs.
However, the extra funding has yet to be agreed upon in the Government’s Spending Review. The devastating consequences of delays are detailed in the NAO report published today.
The number of outstanding cases was 41,000 just before the pandemic in March last year when the system was ‘already strained’ due to cuts, the NAO said
By June this year, there had been a 300 per cent rise in cases waiting more than a year to be heard – more than 11,300 cases compared with fewer than 3,000 at the end of March last year.
It said that the number of victims of sex crimes who have been waiting over a year has increased by 435 percent to 1,316. Delays can lead to witnesses and victims becoming disillusioned and dropping out of the justice system, which could result in offenders going unpunished. It also means witnesses’ memories can be less clear, potentially affecting the conviction rate.
Gareth Davies, head of the NAO, said: ‘Despite efforts to increase capacity in criminal courts, it looks likely that the backlog will remain a problem for many years.
‘The impact on victims, witnesses and defendants is severe and it is vital that the MoJ works effectively with its partners in the criminal justice system to minimise the delays to justice.’
Meg Hillier, chairman of the Commons’ public accounts committee which oversees the NAO’s work, said: ‘Covid-19 has had a significant impact on an already struggling criminal courts system.
‘Despite previous concerns raised, it’s disappointing those responsible for the criminal justice system are still not working effectively together to address the severe delays. The Ministry of Justice needs to show greater leadership in order to reduce the backlog and deliver timely, effective justice for victims of crime.’
The NAO concluded there are still gaps in the recovery programme run by the MoJ and HM Courts and Tribunal Service, which spent an extra £63million on its response to Covid in 2020-21.
An MoJ spokesman said: ‘This report recognises the speed at which we responded to Covid-19. This meant that – in a matter of months – our buildings were made safe, remote technology was rolled out across all courts, and Nightingale courtrooms opened up and down the country to increase the space available for trials.’