This report presents the latest statistics on type and volume of cases that are received and processed through the family court system of England and Wales in the first quarter of 2023 (January to March).

The material contained within this publication was formerly contained in Court Statistics Quarterly, a publication combining Civil, Family and Criminal court statistics.

Pre-release access

In addition to Ministry of Justice (MOJ) professional and production staff, pre-release access to the quarterly statistics of up to 24 hours is granted to the following postholders:

Ministry of Justice

Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice; Minister of State; Parliamentary Under Secretary of State; Lords spokesperson; Permanent Secretary; Private Secretaries (across 5 offices); 3 Special Advisors;

Head of News; Head of Communications at the Office for Public Guardian; Deputy Head of News; Chief Press Officer; Senior Press Officer; Press Officer;

Director General, Performance, Strategy and Analysis Group; Director General, Policy and Strategy Group; Family Justice Director; Deputy Director, Family Justice policy; Head of Family Justice Reform; Civil, Family, Tribunals data lead, Courts and Tribunals Recovery Unit.

Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS)

Chief Executive; Chief Financial Officer; Director of Operations; Deputy Director, Family Operations; Operation lead, Divorce; Head of Operational Performance; Head of Family Modernisation and Improvement.

This report presents the latest statistics on the type and volume of civil county court cases that are received and processed through the justice system of England and Wales in October to December 2023. It also includes the number of judicial review cases processed by the High Court, as well as statistics from the Business and Property Courts and biannual privacy injunctions data.

A Sankey data visualisation tool showing county court case progression and a Judicial Reviews data tool have been published alongside the current publication and are updated quarterly. A link to the Sankey tool can be found in the “Sankey Case Progression Tool Guide” and the judicial reviews tool can be found at the “Judicial Review Data Visualisation Tool” link.

A Civil data visualisation tool has been included in the publication to give a more interactive and granular view of the data on civil claims in county courts. A link to the tool can be found in the “Civil Data Visualisation Tool” page.

This is the quarterly Q3 2023 criminal courts statistics publication.

The statistics here focus on key trends in case volume and progression through the criminal court system in England and Wales. This also includes:

• Experimental statistics on ‘the use of language interpreter and translation services in courts and tribunals;

Additional data tools and CSVs have also been provided.

Statisticians comment

This report covers the period to the end of September 2023.

The volume of receipts in the Crown court has continued to increase in the latest quarter and represents the highest volume in over two years. Although disposals have also increased (to their highest level since 2019), the fact that receipts exceed disposals means the outstanding caseload has grown in the quarter. Latest management information from HMCTS indicates this continues into the autumn with receipts still exceeding disposals in October.

The effective trial rate remains stable in both magistrates’ and Crown Courts; and the average length of time from offence to completion (end-to-end timeliness) decreased at both magistrates’ and Crown Court.

Criminal court statistics quarterly, October to December 2023

The next criminal court statistics publication is scheduled for release on 28th March 2024.

Pre-release

In addition to Ministry of Justice (MOJ) professional and production staff, pre-release access to the quarterly statistics of up to 24 hours is granted to the following post holders:

Ministry of Justice

Permanent Secretary; Director General, Policy; Director General, Performance, Strategy and Analysis; Director, Access to Justice; Director General, Chief Financial Officer; Director, Criminal Justice Policy; Deputy Director, Criminal Courts Policy; Criminal Court Reform Lead; Courts and Tribunal Recovery Unit; Jurisdictional and Operational Support Manager; Head of Data and Analytical Services; Chief Statistician; 5 Press Officers.

Her Majesty’s Court and Tribunals Service

Chief Executive, HMCTS; Deputy Chief Executive, HMCTS; Deputy Director of Legal Services, Court Users and Summary Justice Reform; Head of Operational Performance; Head of Criminal Enforcement team, HMCTS; Head of data and management information, HMCTS; Head of Management Information Systems; Head of Communications; Head of News; Jurisdictional Operation manager and Head of Contracted Services and Performance for HMCTS Operations Directorate.

This is the quarterly Q4 2022 criminal courts statistics publication.

The statistics here focus on key trends in case volume and progression through the criminal court system in England and Wales. This also includes:

• Experimental statistics on ‘the use of language interpreter and translation services in courts and tribunals;

Additional data tools and CSVs have also been provided.

Statisticians comment

This report covers the period to the end of December 2022.

The figures published today are impacted by the resolution of Criminal Bar Association action in October 2022, mid-way through the quarter. The ineffective trial rate at the Crown Court fell back from the peak seen in the previous quarter but remains above levels seen in the previous year.

Timeliness measures, counted at the point of cases completing were impacted by changes in the underlying case mix. There was a sharp increase in the volume of ‘not guilty plea’ cases reaching completion due to the resumption of all Criminal Bar Association work and this led to an increase in timeliness at the Crown Court.

The outstanding caseload at the Crown Court fell back from the series peak in the previous quarter and HMCTS MI shows that this downward trend continues into January 2023.

Criminal court statistics quarterly, January to March 2023

The next criminal court statistics publication is scheduled for release on 29th June 2023.

Pre-release

In addition to Ministry of Justice (MOJ) professional and production staff, pre-release access to the quarterly statistics of up to 24 hours is granted to the following post holders:

Ministry of Justice

Permanent Secretary; Director General, Policy; Director General, Performance, Strategy and Analysis; Director, Access to Justice; Director General, Chief Financial Officer; Director, Criminal Justice Policy; Deputy Director, Criminal Courts Policy; Criminal Court Reform Lead; Courts and Tribunal Recovery Unit; Jurisdictional and Operational Support Manager; Head of Data and Analytical Services; Chief Statistician; 5 Press Officers.

Her Majesty’s Court and Tribunals Service

Chief Executive, HMCTS; Deputy Chief Executive, HMCTS; Deputy Director of Legal Services, Court Users and Summary Justice Reform; Head of Operational Performance; Head of Criminal Enforcement team, HMCTS; Head of data and management information, HMCTS; Head of Management Information Systems; Head of Communications; Head of News; Jurisdictional Operation manager and Head of Contracted Services and Performance for HMCTS Operations Directorate.

Details

This is the quarterly Q3 2022 criminal courts statistics publication.

The statistics here focus on key trends in case volume and progression through the criminal court system in England and Wales. This also includes:

• Experimental statistics on ‘the use of language interpreter and translation services in courts and tribunals;

Additional data tools and CSVs have also been provided.

Statisticians comment

This report covers the period to the end of September 2022.

The figures published today highlight the position at the end of September 2022, when CBA action was having an impact on criminal court activity, particularly at the Crown Court. For example, the outstanding caseload increased as disposals fell below receipts in the Crown Court, and the ineffective trial rate rose to a series peak, with defence barrister availability being a key factor.

The CBA action ceased in the autumn, and the HMCTS management information (highlighted in this report) indicates the outstanding caseload at Crown Courts began falling again from November.

The length of time criminal cases take (timeliness) decreased in both Magistrates and Crown Court but remain above pre-COVID levels. Because timeliness is measured at the point of completion for cases, the impact of CBA action is unlikely to have a major impact on these estimates at this stage.

Criminal court statistics quarterly, October to December 2022

The next criminal court statistics publication is scheduled for release on 30th March 2023.

Pre-release

In addition to Ministry of Justice (MOJ) professional and production staff, pre-release access to the quarterly statistics of up to 24 hours is granted to the following post holders:

Ministry of Justice

Permanent Secretary; Director General, Policy; Director General, Performance, Strategy and Analysis; Director, Access to Justice; Director General, Chief Financial Officer; Director, Criminal Justice Policy; Deputy Director, Criminal Courts Policy; Criminal Court Reform Lead; Courts and Tribunal Recovery Unit; Jurisdictional and Operational Support Manager; Head of Data and Analytical Services; Chief Statistician; 5 Press Officers.

Her Majesty’s Court and Tribunals Service

Chief Executive, HMCTS; Deputy Chief Executive, HMCTS; Deputy Director of Legal Services, Court Users and Summary Justice Reform; Head of Operational Performance; Head of Criminal Enforcement team, HMCTS; Head of data and management information, HMCTS; Head of Management Information Systems; Head of Communications; Head of News; Jurisdictional Operation manager and Head of Contracted Services and Performance for HMCTS Operations Directorate.