2 years ago we The CBA began action “to shine a spotlight on the severity of the ongoing crisis”
Oct to Dec21 80 trials adjourned as no prosecutor was free
🆙12x in 2yrs

Tripled since
Oct to Dec2023
227 trials adjourned, no prosecutor
🆙40x in 4 yrs
756 for all of 2023

October-December 2023
5 rape trials in Suffolk with bailed defendants completed averaging
2 years since charge (737 days)

Nearly 3 times longer than similar rape trials completing in 2014 (213 days)
Govt insists it is meeting its goals to bring more rape cases to court - but…

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We can trust our judges to pass the right sentence to ensure those who need to be in custody will be, regardless of background, in order to keep the public from harm. Undue focus on sentencing guidelines distract from the worsening criminal justice crisis when 756 ready to start…

4th working day in succession
1 in 4 available Crown Court rooms
Shut
Insufficient judges
But even today there are insufficient criminal barristers to prosecute and defend yet many are called on to sit as part-time judges to deal with record backlogs in 5 years
South East 13,986…

The CBA Ministry of Justice
Can't keep working like this. CJS is done. 2day, picked up v serious trial last minute. My booked & worked on trial bumped as no pros csl. 2 court, no pros csl 4 trial, no judge but may b so wait 1/2 day, then may b pros? Then no, adj. No way 2 run CJS!

Why 2023
10,062 ready-to-go trials delay
On day

756 no prosecution barrister
Of which
139 sexual offence trials, no prosecutor

Worsening
Oct-Dec2023
227 trials no prosecutor
Of those
53 were
Sex offence trials

Compare
sex offence trials no prosecutor
to yrs

2018
4

2019
9

There will be complainants, witnesses and defendants told this week that there is no room to resolve the worst thing that happened to them until 2026.

Some will walk past empty, locked courtrooms to be told that.

A quarter of capacity sits vacant today.

And they’ll wonder why.

2014-15 we completed 3x more fraud prosecutions as in 2023
but half the time

bailed fraud trials
Oct-Dec 2023
A record average
4 yrs 10mths
Including
1yr 10mths charge to complete

Oct-Dec 2014
2yrs 8mths
Inc 9mths charge to complete

Now it’s 2yr 8mths wait post charge
👇🏾

Over 1 in 4
Crown Court Rooms today
shut
Not enough judges
Nor criminal barristers to prosecute/defend

It’s why
Oct to Dec 2023
It took average for
bailed #rape trials
17 months charge to completion:
46 days to list
472 days at court;
Total
5 yrs 3 mths offence to completion…

I know it’s small print. But please read it. Very sad.

Lovely to speak to Jade Bogart of BBC Radio 4 Today about the state of things at the Criminal Bar!

“You said you were going to have to be running between two court rooms, how did that come about” asks BBC Radio 4 Today Jade Bogart of
RASSO criminal barrister Stacey Lee Holland of 2DRJ “unfortunately it’s due to a lack of [criminal] barristers and there aren’t enough of us to…