Official figures show record magistrates’ court caseloads and longer waits in Crown Court cases
Criminal Court Statistics published by the Ministry of Justice show that criminal courts in England and Wales continued to face significant operational pressure during the first quarter of 2026, with the magistrates’ courts recording a record open caseload and the Crown Court continuing to deal with long-running cases despite improvements in disposals.
The Criminal Court Statistics Quarterly: January to March 2026, published on 25 June 2026, shows that the magistrates’ courts ended March with 370,722 open cases, the highest level recorded since the comparable series began in 2019. The figure represents a 2% increase on the previous quarter and an 11% rise compared with the same period in 2025. According to the Ministry of Justice, receipts continued to exceed disposals during the quarter, contributing to the growth in the outstanding caseload.
The report said demand entering the magistrates’ courts remained high throughout the period. Non-Single Justice Procedure (non-SJP) receipts reached a post-pandemic peak, while the open non-SJP caseload also rose to its highest level in the comparable series. The overall open trial caseload increased to a new series high, reflecting the continued pressure on court capacity.
Although the outstanding caseload grew, the Ministry of Justice noted that activity within the magistrates’ courts remained substantial. Courts continued to receive and dispose of large volumes of cases during the quarter, but incoming work continued to outpace the number of completed cases, resulting in a further increase in open cases by the end of March.
In the Crown Court, the open caseload stood at 80,061 cases at the end of March 2026. While this represented a slight reduction of 37 cases compared with the previous quarter, it remained 5% higher than at the same point a year earlier. The Ministry of Justice said this was the first quarter since the beginning of 2023 in which Crown Court disposals exceeded receipts, helping to stabilise the overall caseload.
The report also recorded a post-pandemic quarterly peak in Crown Court disposals. Despite this increase in completed cases, older cases continued to accumulate. The number of cases that had been open for one year or longer reached 22,124, the highest figure recorded in the series. More than half of these long-running cases involved violence against the person or sexual offences, highlighting the complexity of a significant proportion of the outstanding workload.
The age of cases awaiting resolution also continued to increase. The median age of an open Crown Court case reached 196 days, another series high. The Ministry of Justice statistics indicate that, although recent disposal rates have improved, the system continues to manage a substantial number of cases that have remained unresolved for extended periods.
The quarterly release also highlighted continuing challenges around court timeliness. In the magistrates’ courts, the median time from charge to completion was 52 days. Although this represented a slight improvement compared with the previous quarter, it remained above pre-pandemic levels.
Timeliness measures in the Crown Court showed longer waiting periods. The median time from charge to completion increased to 183 days, while the median time from offence to completion reached 346 days, an increase of 20 days compared with the same quarter in 2025. These figures reflect the continuing impact of outstanding caseloads on the progression of criminal cases through the courts.
Trial effectiveness also remained below levels recorded before the pandemic. Ineffective trials accounted for 21% of listed trials in the magistrates’ courts and 24% in the Crown Court during the quarter. The report further noted that the number of vacated Crown Court trials exceeded 6,000 for the first time in a single quarter, indicating continued disruption to trial listings and scheduling.
The Ministry of Justice said the Criminal Court Statistics Quarterly reflects the position of the criminal courts up to the end of March 2026. The department added that it continues to improve the quality of criminal court data and reporting while monitoring trends in receipts, disposals, outstanding caseloads and court timeliness across both the magistrates’ courts and the Crown Court.