Written questions

Crown Court and Magistrates' Courts: Standards

Commons · Question 6649 · Tabled 3 Jun 2026 · Ministry of Justice · Official record

Answered 12 Jun 2026

Question

Asked by James McMurdock

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate his Department has made of the average waiting time between charge and trial in a) magistrates’ courts and b) the Crown Court.

Answer

Answered by Sarah Sackman, 12 Jun 2026

Whilst data is not routinely published for the period from charge to trial start (i.e. the main hearing for defendants entering a not guilty plea), a bespoke breakdown of the Crown Court ‘End-to-end timeliness tool’ shows that the mean time from charge to...