Justice Delayed: Unprecedented 300-Year Court Backlog Threatens Legal System
Crown court backlogs in England and Wales are stabilizing, but thousands of victims still face year-long waits, especially for sexual offence cases. While some local courts show improvements, the overall challenge remains significant, sparking a heated debate over the necessity of jury trial reforms.
New figures from the Ministry of Justice reveal a complex picture for the crown court backlog in England and Wales, with the overall number of outstanding cases showing signs of stabilization but persistent challenges remaining, particularly concerning the duration of waiting times for victims and the growing proportion of sexual offence cases. At the end of March, the total outstanding cases stood at 80,061. A concerning trend highlighted is the record high of 22,124 cases that have been waiting for a year or more, accounting for 29 percent of all open cases. This figure represents a 24 percent increase from the previous year (17,819) and a 6 percent rise compared to the last three months of 2025 (20,939).
Despite the national challenges, there has been some progress at a local level. Nearly half of crown courts managed to reduce their backlog of cases during the first quarter of the year. Specifically, Manchester's two main crown courts showed varying results: Manchester Crown Square reduced its open cases by just over four percent, falling from 1,742 at the end of 2025 to 1,671 by March 2026. However, Manchester's Minshull Street Crown Court experienced a slight increase in open cases. Nationally, three courts (Ipswich, Maidstone, and Truro) cut their backlog by 10 percent between December 2025 and March 2026, with a further seven, including Bolton and Preston crown courts, achieving reductions of between 5 percent and 10 percent.
The Ministry of Justice stated that the crown court backlog had fallen slightly compared with the previous three-month period, a marginal drop of 37 cases, suggesting a stabilization. This marks the first quarterly drop in numbers in three years. Nevertheless, the backlog remains 5 percent higher than the previous year and more than double the level seen at the start of 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic exacerbated the issue.
The debate over judicial reforms, particularly proposals to cut jury trials, continues to intensify. Justice minister Sarah Sackman warned that it could take “nearly 300 years” to clear the backlog without major reforms, insisting that