Details

This report presents key statistics on activity in the criminal justice system for England and Wales. It provides information up to the year ending December 2024 with accompanying commentary, analysis and presentation of longer-term trends.

Statistician’s comment

Continuing the recent trend, 2024 saw increases in the volumes of prosecutions and convictions at criminal courts. Prosecutions for theft presented the largest annual increase, followed by violence against the person and drugs offences. Prosecutions for sexual offences rose for the 6th consecutive year and represents a series high.

In the case of the more serious indictable offences, conviction levels are now at their highest since 2017.

The proportion of defendants dealt with for serious indictable offences who were remanded in custody continued to rise, with levels reaching a series peak in the magistrates’ courts.

Average custodial sentence length fell slightly for both indictable offences and all offences, driven in part by an increased proportion of conviction and custodial sentences being for theft offences which attract shorter sentence lengths but also a reduction in average sentences for some offence groups.

Crown Court data development (“One Crown”)

Recently MoJ and HMCTS worked together on the https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/67e298ced4a1b0665b8ee1fe/Consultation_on_One_Crown_changes_to_the_Crown_Court_data_processing_in_CCSQ.docx" class="govuk-link">“One Crown” data project to create a single, consistent and flexible dataset that meets both MoJ and HMCTS needs. This is intended to bring greater transparency, clarity and coherence for all users of the Criminal Court Statistics series.

In the coming months we plan to move the Criminal Justice System statistics to the One Crown data model. Historically the two MoJ published series have been produced independently from distinct pipelines which is inefficient and risks undermining the transparency between the two publications. Moving to the same data model will improve the coherence and provide a clearer read across for users of the two CJS statistical series and our understanding of the underlying administrative systems.

Moving to the One Crown model will require a large amount of work in a short period of time. For this reason, we will be cancelling the planned publication of the CJS statistics to Q1 2025 in August 2025. We expect to bring forward the publication of CJS statistics by a month and publish Q2 2025 in October 2025 rather than November 2025. This change will be made to all subsequent releases and will ensure more timely release of CJS data.

The reports present key statistics on activity in the criminal justice system for England and Wales. It provides information for the latest year (2018) with accompanying commentary, analysis and presentation of longer term trends.

An interactive Sankey diagram (a type of flow diagram, in which the width of the arrows is shown proportionally to the number each represents) presenting information on offending histories accompanies this bulletin.

https://moj-analytical-services.github.io/criminal_history_sankey/index.html" class="govuk-link">Offending histories

Pre-release access

The bulletin is produced and handled by the ministry’s analytical professionals and production staff. Pre-release access of up to 24 hours is granted to the following persons:

Ministry of Justice

Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice; Minister of State for Prisons and Probation; Parliamentary Under Secretary of State - Courts and Legal Aid; Parliamentary Under Secretary of State and Minister for Victims, Youth and Family Justice; Lords spokesperson – Ministry of Justice; Permanent Secretary; Principal Private Secretary; Deputy Principal Private Secretary; Private Secretary x5; Deputy Private Secretary; Assistant Private Secretary x3; 2 Special Advisers; 2 Press Officers; Director General, Policy, Communications & Analysis Group; Director, Data & Analytical Services Directorate; Chief Statistician; Director, Family and Criminal Justice Policy; Deputy Director, Bail, Sentencing and Release Policy; Section Head, Criminal Court Policy; Director, Offender and Youth Justice Policy; Section Head, Custodial Sentencing Policy; Head of Courts and Sentencing, Youth Justice Policy; Deputy Director - Crime; Crime Service Manager (Case Progression) - Courts and Tribunals Development; Head of Operational Performance; Deputy Director, Legal Operations - Courts & Tribunals Development Directorate; Policy Adviser x5; Statistician; Data Analyst x2.

Home Office

Home Secretary; Private Secretary to the Home Secretary; Deputy Principal Private Secretary to the Home Secretary; Assistant Private Secretary to the HO Permanent Secretary; Permanent Secretary, Home Office; Minister of State for Policing and the Fire Service; Assistant Private Secretary Minister of State for Policing and the Fire Service; Director of Crime, Home Office; Head of Crime and Policing Statistics, Home Office; Statistician - Recorded crime statistics.

The Judiciary

Lord Chief Justice; Head of the Criminal Justice Team.

Cabinet Office

Principal Analyst, Justice.

Department for Education (pre-release access limited to supplementary paper on Prolific Offenders):

Secretary of State for Education (and Private Secretary); Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Children and Families (and Private Secretary); Minister of State for School Standards (and Private Secretary); Special Advisers; Deputy Director, Data Group and Deputy Head of Profession for Statistics; Policy Official x9; Analyst x8; Press Officer x2.

The report presents key statistics on activity in the criminal justice system for England and Wales. It provides information up to the year ending March 2020 with accompanying commentary, analysis and presentation of longer term trends.

Please note that the decision has been made to delay the offending histories and out of court disposals components of this publication. In line with https://osr.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Regulatory-guidance_changing-methods_Coronavirus.pdf" class="govuk-link">guidance from the Office for Statistics Regulation, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused MoJ to have to change its data gathering, access and release practices, focusing efforts on priority analysis and statistics. In particular, we paused access to the Police National Computer, on which these components rely, to minimise non-essential travel by our analysts. We will keep users updated of any further changes via our published release calendar. We will be publishing a response to our February consultation on changes to the frequency and timing of the offending histories components, setting out when these will be published in the future.

Statistician’s comment:

The number of defendants prosecuted has fallen over the last decade and figures published today continue that trend, with a slight decrease in the year ending March 2020. The figures released today cover the period to the end of March 2020 and any COVID-19 impacts, for example on the level of prosecutions, are likely to be small. For more information about COVID-19 impacts on courts, see the HMCTS regular management information publication: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmcts-management-information.

There have been increases in prosecutions for some of the most serious offence groups in the latest year, in particular violence, drug offences, robbery and sexual offences. The increase in prosecutions and convictions for violence continue to be driven by the legislation that introduced the new offence of ‘assaults on emergency workers’ from November 2018, while the increases for other offences groups are driven by an increase in charges brought forward by the police.

The publication also shows the different pattern for custody rates across offences – with a continued increase in custody rates for the most serious, indictable, offences, alongside a reduction in rates for summary offences. Average custodial sentence lengths continue to rise and were the highest in a decade. Although we often consider crimes to correlate with prosecutions, we would not expect prosecutions to move directly in line with the ONS published police recorded crime series, or Crime Survey for England and Wales as only those crimes that result in a charge are likely to flow into courts – in addition criminal court prosecutions cover a much broader range of offences than police recorded crime or the survey.

Pre-release access

The bulletin is produced and handled by the ministry’s analytical professionals and production staff. Pre-release access of up to 24 hours is granted to the following persons:

Ministry of Justice

Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice; Minister of State for Prisons and Probation; 2 Parliamentary Under Secretary of States; Lords spokesperson; Principal Private Secretary; Deputy Principal Private Secretary; 3 Private Secretaries; 4 Assistant Private Secretaries; Permanent Secretary; Head of Permanent Secretary’s Office; Special Advisor; Head of News; 2 Deputy Heads of News; 3 Press Officers; Director, Family and Criminal Justice Policy; Director of Data and Analytical Services; Chief Statistician; Director General, Policy, Communications and Analysis Group; Deputy Director, Bail, Sentencing and Release Policy; Section Head, Criminal Court Policy; Director, Offender and Youth Justice Policy; Statistician, Youth Justice Board; Data Analyst, Youth Justice Board; Deputy Director, Crime; Crime Service Manager (Case Progression) - Courts and Tribunals Development; Deputy Director, Legal Operations - Courts & Tribunals Development Directorate; Head of Criminal Law policy; 2 Policy Managers – Youth Courts and Sentencing; 6 Policy Advisors; 2 Justice Statistics analysts; Head of Data Innovation, Analysis and Linking; Head of PNC/Offender Histories Analysis; Head of Criminal Courts Statistics.

Home Office

Home Secretary; Private Secretary to the Home Secretary; Deputy Principal Private Secretary to the Home Secretary; Permanent Secretary, Home Office; Assistant Private Secretary to the Home Office Permanent Secretary; Minister of State for Policing and the Fire Service; Assistant Private Secretary

Biennial statistics on the representation of sex groups as victims, suspects, defendants, offenders and employees in the Criminal Justice System.

These reports are released by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and produced in accordance with arrangements approved by the UK Statistics Authority.

We are planning to make changes to this publication and a consultation on ‘Changes to criminal justice statistics’ publication was held between 20 November 2014 and 22 January 2015.

Response to consultation on changes to Criminal justice statistics publication

The report presents key statistics on activity in the criminal justice system (CJS) for England and Wales. It provides information for the latest 12 months (October 2013 to September 2014) with accompanying commentary, analysis and presentation of longer term trends.

Key findings

Number of individuals formally dealt with by the CJS is lowest on record (1970 to date).

• The use of out of court disposals is now less than half of the peak, in year ending September 2007 and decreased 16% in the latest year.
• Conviction ratio has remained relatively stable since year ending September 2009 (following on from an increase in the 5 years preceding this). In latest year it was 83% compared to 82% in previous year.
• Average Custodial Sentence Length continues to increase since September 2006. In the latest period it was 15.8 months compared with 12.3 months in year ending September 2006.
• Immediate custody rate for indictable offences (just under 28%) is highest in decade and has increased in each of the last four years.
• Number of first time entrants formally dealt with by CJS continues to decline. 52% decline since year ending September 2007.
• Number of offenders with no previous convictions or cautions sentenced for indictable offences has increased by 4% in 12 months ending September 2014.
• 18% increase in latest year in number of adult offenders given suspended sentences despite 15+ previous cautions or convictions.
• Prosecutions for sexual offences are the highest in the decade and increased by 11% in the latest year.

The bulletin is produced and handled by the ministry’s analytical professionals and production staff. Pre-release access of up to 24 hours is granted to the following persons.

Ministry of Justice

Secretary of State for Justice; Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Minister for Prisons, Probation and Rehabilitation; Minister of State for Policing, Criminal Justice and Victims; Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Minister for the Courts and Legal Aid; Minister of State for Justice and Civil Liberties; Permanent Secretary; 2 Special Advisors; 2 Director Generals; Director Crime; Director, Analytical Services; Chief Statistician; Director, Sentencing and Rehabilitation; Senior Policy Official, Sentencing; Policy Official, Sentencing; Policy Official, Out of court disposals; Policy Official, Youth Justice; Head of News; 3 press officers; 2 private secretaries; 8 assistant private secretaries.

Home Office

Home Secretary; Permanent Secretary; Director of Crime; 1 press officer; Chief Statistician; policy official, Policing and Crime; 1 private secretary.

The Judiciary

Lord Chief Justice; Head of Lord Chief Justice’s Criminal Justice Team.

Other

Policy Official, Attorney Generals Office; Policy Advisor, Cabinet Office.

This report presents key statistics on activity in the criminal justice system for England and Wales. It provides information up to the year ending September 2022 with accompanying commentary, analysis and presentation of longer-term trends.

Statistician’s comment:

The figures published today, for year ending September 2022, demonstrate the continued recovery of the Criminal Justice System (CJS) since the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and the possible impact of the Criminal Bar Association (CBA) action from April, which concluded in the autumn.

Prosecutions and convictions have increased in the latest year, however, they both remained below pre-pandemic levels. The increase in the latest year was driven by summary offences, while prosecutions for indictable offences decreased. For indictable offences, the only offence group to show an increase in prosecutions and convictions was sexual offences.

The custody rate for indictable offences has risen to levels seen pre-pandemic at 32% in the latest year, after a fall in the year ending September 2021. The average custodial sentence length (ACSL) for indictable offences has continued to rise from 24.0 months in the year ending September 2021 to 24.8 months in the latest year.

This report presents key statistics on activity in the criminal justice system for England and Wales. It provides information up to the year ending March 2022 with accompanying commentary, analysis and presentation of longer-term trends.

Statistician’s comment:

The figures published today, for year ending March 2022, continued to be influenced by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on criminal court prosecutions and outcomes. The Criminal Justice System (CJS) is continuing to recover - prosecutions have increased by 27% in the latest year but remain 14% lower compared to pre-pandemic levels. Convictions have also increased in the latest year, by 31%, though they are down by 13% since the year ending March 2020. While the number of people convicted for most offence groups have fallen over the last two years, they have risen for violence and sexual offences in each of the last two years.

The custody rate for indictable offences has fallen slightly in the latest year to 32%. However, for those serious cases resulting in custody, average custodial sentence length continues to increase to a high of 25.7 months for indictable offences. This has increased year-on-year (from 16.8 in 2012), with the only decrease in year ending March 2021 likely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This summary explains how the various criminal justice agencies deal with a defendant once identified, presents the recent trends on how the Criminal Justice System (CJS) response to offending is changing, and identifies factors that may be causing the changes, where identifiable.

Once a suspect has been identified by the police, charged and arrested, the police work with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in deciding the most appropriate course of action in each case. The decision can be made to not take the offender to court, through a number of available ‘out-of-court disposals’, or to proceed against the defendant at a magistrates’ court.

The total number of individuals, which includes people and companies, who have been dealt with formally by the CJS in England and Wales, in either of these ways, has been declining since the 12 months ending September 2007, with 1.77 million individuals dealt with in the latest year. Police recorded crime peaked in 2003/04, and recorded offences are now lower than at any time over the past decade, whilst total crime, as measured by surveys of the general population, has also fallen over the same time-period.

The number of individuals dealt with formally by the CJS for the first time has also fallen since the 12 months ending September 2007 – with 168,000 ‘first time entrants’ to the CJS in the latest year, a decline of 49% since 2007. The reduction has been much sharper for juveniles (78% over the same period), reflecting both a decreasing number of juvenile offenders reprimanded or issued with a warning and the decreasing numbers of juveniles found guilty in all courts. However, per head of population, the rate of juvenile first time entrants remains higher than for adults.

Criminal offences can be divided into three main offence groups:

• Indictable proceedings, which cover the more serious offences such as violent and sexual offences and robbery, and when heard in court may be passed on to the Crown Court, either for sentencing or for a full trial with a judge and jury. This group includes both ‘indictable only’ offences, which can only be tried on indictment in the Crown Court by a judge and jury, and ‘triable-either-way’ offences which are triable either summarily in a magistrate’s court or on indictment in the Crown Court;

• Summary proceedings, which cover less serious offences, are almost always handled entirely in the magistrates’ courts when dealt with in court, with the majority completed at the first hearing. They are split into two categories:

  • Summary non-motoring proceedings, such as TV license evasion and less serious criminal damage; and

  • Summary motoring proceedings, such as speeding and driving whilst disqualified.

Out of court disposals

Until the introduction of Penalty Notices for Disorder (PNDs) in 2004 and formal warnings for possession of cannabis in 2005, the only out of court disposal available to police was a caution. Since the 12 months ending September 2003, the use of out of court disposals increased rapidly and peaked in the 12 months ending September 2007, before decreasing year on year – with 334,900 individuals issued an out of court disposal in the latest period. The increase to the 12 months ending September 2007 coincided with the introduction in 2001 of a target to increase offences brought to justice, and the decrease coincided with the replacement in April 2008 of the target with one placing more emphasis on bringing serious crimes to justice. The latter target was subsequently removed in May 2010.

Court proceedings and remand

All criminal cases proceeding to court in England and Wales start in a magistrates’ court. Since the 12 months ending September 2004, the number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates’ court has declined almost year on year – down to 1.43 million defendants in the latest period – driven chiefly by decreases in summary motoring offences brought before magistrates. The biggest decreases were for vehicle insurance offences, with large decreases also for driving licence related offences, driving after consuming alcohol or taking drugs, vehicle test offences and speed limit offences.

Proceedings decreased by 4% in the latest year, with decreases seen in indictable and summary non-motoring offence groups and a small increase (2%) in summary motoring offences. Proceedings decreased by 8% for the indictable offence category – decreases were seen for all indictable offence types, except for sexual offences where proceedings increased by 5%.

Around 6% of all defendants proceeded against are passed on to the Crown Court for trial. The number of defendants appearing in the Crown Court for tr

These data tables present an overview of trends in First Time Entrants (FTE) into the Criminal Justice System in England and Wales.

The areas of focus include: Victimisation, Police Activity, Defendants and Court Outcomes, Offender Management, Offender Characteristics, Offence Analysis, and Practitioners.

This is the latest biennial compendium of Statistics on Ethnicity and the Criminal Justice System and follows on from its sister publication Statistics on Women and the Criminal Justice System, 2019.

Earlier editions: Criminal Justice Statistics in England and Wales

This report presents the key trends from October 2011 to September 2012 for activity in the criminal justice system (CJS) for England and Wales.

Main findings

Overview of the criminal justice system in 12 months ending September 2012

In the 12 months ending September 2012, there were 1.86 million individuals given an out of court disposal or proceeded against at court. This compares with 2.03 million individuals in the 12 months ending September 2011, a decline of 8.4 per cent.

This consisted of a 13.0 per cent fall in the use of out of court disposals (from 444,400 to 386,900) and a 7.1 per cent fall in the number of defendants proceeded against at court (from 1,583,400 to 1,471,300).

Out of court disposals

Since the 12 months ending September 2008, the use of out of court disposals has decreased by 38.0 per cent (from 624,400 to 386,900 in the 12 months ending September 2012). The decline in the use of out of court disposals coincided with the replacement in April 2008 of a target to increase offences brought to justice, with one placing more emphasis on bringing serious crime to justice. The latter target was subsequently removed in May 2010.

Police cautions

There were 205,700 cautions administered in the 12 months ending September 2012.

• This represents a 12.5 per cent decrease compared with the 12 months ending September 2011 (235,000) and a 44.0 per cent fall on the 367,300 administered in the 12 months ending September 2007, when the use of cautions peaked.

Penalty Notices for Disorder (PNDs)_

There were 109,600 PNDs issued in 12 months ending September 2012.

This was 15.8 per cent fewer than the 130,300 issued in the same period of the previous year and 48.9 per cent fewer than the peak of 214,400 issued in 12 months ending September 2007, a downtrend trend similar to that observed with the use of cautions.

Court proceedings

In the 12 months ending September 2012, there were 1.47 million defendants proceeded against in magistrates’ courts and 1.23 million offenders convicted and sentenced of a criminal offence at all courts.

Prosecutions and convictions peaked in the 12 months ending September 2004, and have since fallen by 28.6 per cent and 21.5 per cent respectively. These falls have largely been driven by declines in proceedings for summary non motoring and summary motoring offences.

For the more serious indictable offences, prosecutions have fallen by 26.5 per cent since September 2002. The number of convictions for indictable offences have remained broadly flat over the same period, resulting in a rise in the conviction ratio from 65.3 per cent in the 12 months ending September 2002 to 82.6 per in the 12 months ending September 2012 - the highest ratio in 11 years.

Sentencing

Immediate custody

Of the 1.23 million offenders sentenced during the 12 months ending September 2012, there were 97,500 persons sentenced to immediate custody, a decrease of 4.7 per cent from 102,300 persons in the same period a year earlier and 12.6 per cent lower than the peak of 111,500 persons sentenced in the 12 months ending September 2002.

In the 12 months ending September 2012, the Average Custodial Sentence Length (ACSL) was 14.9 months, an increase of 0.6 months compared to the 12 months ending September 2011, and up from 2.5 months in the 12 months ending September 2002. The rise in ACSL has been driven by the change in the case mix of people getting custodial sentences and longer sentences for indictable offences.

Fines

Fines are the most common sentence passed at court, accounting for around two-thirds of all sentences handed out by the criminal courts (66.5 per cent in the 12 months ending September 2012). The fine rate is consistent with that seen in the same period for the previous year, and has declined from a peak of 70.3 per cent in the 12 months ending September 2004. The decline has been due to a decline in prosecutions and subsequent conviction for summary motoring offences - the offence type for which fines are most commonly given

The latest figure of 816,600 fines represents a decrease of 5. 2 per cent compared to the 12 months ending September 2011, and the lowest number of fines handed out over the last 11 years.

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These data tables present an overview of trends in First Time Entrants (FTE) into the Criminal Justice System in England and Wales. This is normally released alongside Criminal Justice System Statistics Quarterly, however, Q3 statistics on criminal court prosecutions, convictions and sentencing is cancelled. Please see here for more information.

Section 95 of the Criminal Justice Act 1991 requires the Government to publish statistical data to assess whether any discrimination exists in how the CJS treats individuals based on their ethnicity.

These statistics are used by policy makers, the agencies who comprise the CJS and others (e.g. academics, interested bodies) to monitor differences between ethnic groups, and to highlight areas where practitioners and others may wish to undertake more in-depth analysis. The identification of differences should not be equated with discrimination as there are many reasons why apparent disparities may exist. The main findings are:

Victims of crime

The 2012/13 Crime Survey for England and Wales shows that adults from self-identified Mixed, Black and Asian ethnic groups were more at risk of being a victim of personal crime than adults from the White ethnic group. This has been consistent since 2008/09 for adults from a Mixed or Black ethnic group; and since 2010/11 for adults from an Asian ethnic group. Adults from a Mixed ethnic group had the highest risk of being a victim of personal crime in each year between 2008/09 and 2012/13.

Homicide victims

Homicide is a rare event, therefore, homicide victims data are presented aggregated in three-year periods in order to be able to analyse the data by ethnic appearance. The most recent period for which data are available is 2009/10 to 2011/12.

The overall number of homicides has decreased over the past three three-year periods. The number of homicide victims of White and Other ethnic appearance decreased during each of these three-year periods. However the number of victims of Black ethnic appearance increased in 2006/07 to 2008/09 before falling again in 2009/10 to 2011/12.

For those homicides where there is a known suspect, the majority of victims were of the same ethnic group as the principal suspect. However, the relationship between victim and principal suspect varied across ethnic groups. In the three-year period from 2009/10 to 2011/12, for victims of White ethnic appearance the largest proportion of principal suspects were from the victim’s own family; for victims of Black ethnic appearance, the largest proportion of principal suspects were a friend or acquaintance of the victim; while for victims of Asian ethnic appearance, the largest proportion of principal suspects were strangers.

Homicide by sharp instrument was the most common method of killing for victims of White, Black and Asian ethnic appearance in the three most recent three-year periods. However, for homicide victims of White ethnic appearance hitting and kicking represented the second most common method of killing compared with shooting for victims of Black ethnic appearance, and other methods of killing for victims of Asian ethnic appearance.

Suspects

In 2011/12, a person aged ten or older (the age of criminal responsibility), who self-identified as belonging to the Black ethnic group was six times more likely than a White person to be stopped and searched under section 1 (s1) of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 and other legislation in England and Wales; persons from the Asian or Mixed ethnic group were just over two times more likely to be stopped and searched than a White person.

Despite an increase across all ethnic groups in the number of stops and searches conducted under s1 powers between 2007/08 and 2011/12, the number of resultant arrests decreased across most ethnic groups. Just under one in ten stop and searches in 2011/12 under s1 powers resulted in an arrest in the White and Black self-identified ethnic groups, compared with 12% in 2007/08. The proportion of resultant arrests has been consistently lower for the Asian self-identified ethnic group.

In 2011/12, for those aged 10 or older, a Black person was nearly three times more likely to be arrested per 1,000 population than a White person, while a person from the Mixed ethnic group was twice as likely. There was no difference in the rate of arrests between Asian and White persons.

The number of arrests decreased in each year between 2008/09 and 2011/12, consistent with a downward trend in police recorded crime since 2004/05. Overall, the number of arrests decreased for all ethnic groups between 2008/09 and 2011/12, however arrests of suspects from the Black, Asian and Mixed ethnic groups peaked in 2010/11.

Arrests for drug offences and sexual offences increased for suspects in all ethnic groups except the Chinese or Other ethnic group between 2008/09 and 2011/12. In addition, there were increases in arrests for burglary, robbery and the other offences category for suspects from the Black and Asian ethnic groups.

Defendants

The use of out of court disposals (Penalty Notices for Disorder and caution

The areas of focus include: Victimisation, Police Activity, Defendants and Court Outcomes, Offender Management, Offender Characteristics, Offence Analysis, and Practitioners.

This is the latest biennial compendium of Statistics on Race and the Criminal Justice System and follows on from its sister publication Statistics on Women and the Criminal Justice System, 2017.

Introduction

This publication compiles statistics from data sources across the Criminal Justice System (CJS), to provide a combined perspective on the typical experiences of different ethnic groups. No causative links can be drawn from these summary statistics. For the majority of the report no controls have been applied for other characteristics of ethnic groups (such as average income, geography, offence mix or offender history), so it is not possible to determine what proportion of differences identified in this report are directly attributable to ethnicity. Differences observed may indicate areas worth further investigation, but should not be taken as evidence of bias or as direct effects of ethnicity.

In general, minority ethnic groups appear to be over-represented at many stages throughout the CJS compared with the White ethnic group. The greatest disparity appears at the point of stop and search, arrests, custodial sentencing and prison population. Among minority ethnic groups, Black individuals were often the most over-represented. Outcomes for minority ethnic children are often more pronounced at various points of the CJS. Differences in outcomes between ethnic groups over time present a mixed picture, with disparity decreasing in some areas are and widening in others.

Key findings

Victims

• The Asian ethnic group had the lowest proportion of both adults (2%) and children (5%) who had experienced personal crime in the last year. In 2018/19, both adults and children from the Asian ethnic group were half as likely to report victimisation when compared to the White ethnic group.
• A higher proportion of Black homicides were against children, 17% of Black victims were 17 or younger, compared to an average of 11% across all ethnicities. Between 2015/16 and 2017/18, Black children made up 20% of all child victims, while Black victims made up 13% of victims across all age groups.

Police Activity

• The proportion of stop and searches conducted on White suspects decreased from 75% in 2014/15 to 59% in 2018/19 and increased for all minority ethnic groups. The largest increases were from 13% to 22% for Black suspects and from 8% to 13% for Asian suspects.
• In the last five years, the proportion of stop and searches involving Black suspects in London increased from 30% to 37%, now equal to the number of White suspects searched. In 2018/19, 48% of all stop and searches (where ethnicity is known) were conducted in London, and increasingly involving a higher proportion of suspects from minority ethnic groups when compared to the rest of England and Wales.
• Black suspects had the highest proportion of arrests that resulted from stop and searches in the latest year, at 20% which has increased from 15% since 2014/15. This is driven by a higher number of stop and searches in London, where resultant arrests accounted for 22% of all arrests, compared to 5% for the rest of England and Wales. For other groups, between 6% and 13% of arrests resulted from stop and searches.
• In 2018/19, two thirds (67%) of children arrested in London were from minority ethnic groups, compared to 21% of children arrested in the rest of England and Wales. Just over half (52%) of adults arrested in London were from minority ethnic groups, compared to 22% of adults arrested in the rest of England and Wales.

Defendants

• In the latest year, the largest fall in the volume of prosecutions and convictions for indictable offences was seen in the Asian group, down by 22% and 20% respectively. Prosecutions and convictions fell by 18% and 16% for Black defendants, by 13% each for White defendants, by 8% and 10% for defendants from Mixed ethnic groups and by 7% and 14% for defendants from Chinese or Other ethnic groups.
• White defendants consistently had the highest conviction ratio for indictable offences over the last 5 years (with the exception of 2015) and was 85% in 2018. The conviction ratios for White, Asian (83%) and Black (81%) defendants have converged with each other over the last 5 years, remained constant for defendants from Mixed ethnic groups (77%) and fallen for Chinese or Other ethnic groups (75%).
• Compared to White defendants (38%), larger proportions of Asian (40%), Mixed ethnicity (45%), Black (46%) and Chinese or Other (46%) defendants were remanded in custody for indictable

The tables in this statistical notice present the impact of the methodological change to the first time entrants statistics.

Table 1 presents updated statistics on first time entrants to the criminal justice system by age group, 12 months ending March 2003 to 12 months ending March 2013.

Table 2 presents updated statistics on first time entrants to the criminal justice system as a rate per 100,000 of the population, by age group, 12 months ending March 2003 to 12 months ending March 2013.

Table 3 presents updated statistics on first time entrants to the criminal justice system, by age group, 12 months ending June 2003 to 12 months ending June 2013.

Table 4 presents updated statistics on first time entrants to the criminal justice system as a rate per 100,000 of the population, by age group, 12 months ending June 2003 to 12 months ending June 2013.

This is the quarterly Q2 2020 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:

• Management information concerning the enforcement of financial penalties in England and Wales;
• Experimental statistics on ‘the use of language interpreter and translation services in courts and tribunals;
• Experimental statistics on Failure to Appear Warrants at magistrates’ courts in England and Wales.

The Crown Court information release is published as management information on the https://www.judiciary.uk/crown-court-information/" class="govuk-link">Courts and Tribunals Judiciary website. This has been affected by the changes to the administrative systems at Crown Court and as such has not been updated for Q2 2020.

Additional data tools and CSVs have also been provided.

Statisticians comment

“This report covers data to the end of June 2020, although courts continued to carry out urgent business and make more use of remote audio and video technology, the impact of COVID-19 response remains clear to see. Workload and trial efficiency estimates at both the magistrates’ courts and the Crown Court show that receipts and disposals have fallen, while both outstanding cases and trial vacations increased sharply.

It is expected that outstanding case and trial vacation volumes will maintain these higher levels while the limited operation of the criminal courts remains in place and the gradual reintroduction of jury trials at the Crown Court from 18th May 2020 continues. Published management information from Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal Service (HMCTS) show that outstanding case volumes at both magistrates’ courts and the Crown Court remain above pre-COVID baselines between the end of June 2020 and the week ending 23rd August 2020.

The impact can be seen for other published measures which are calculated at the point that a case completes in the courts, such as the increase in average waiting time, as well as associated court functions such as financial enforcement collection and language service provision.

The significantly reduced volumes of cases being processed at the criminal courts as a result of the operational restrictions following the COVID-19 response mean that the data is unlikely to be representative of trends in previous periods.”

Criminal court statistics (quarterly), July to September 2020

The next criminal court statistics publication is scheduled for release in December 2020.

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 postholders:

Ministry of Justice

Permanent Secretary; Director General, Policy, Communications and Analysis; Director, Criminal Justice Policy; Deputy Director, Criminal Courts Policy; Criminal Court Reform Lead; 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

Home Office

1 Senior Policy Official and 1 Statistician.

Statistics on race and the criminal justice system 2010

Biennial statistics on the representation of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic groups as victims, suspects, offenders and employees in the Criminal Justice System.

These reports are released by the Ministry of Justice and produced in accordance with arrangements approved by the UK Statistics Authority.

Introduction

This report provides information about how members of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BME) Groups in England and Wales were represented in the Criminal Justice System (CJS) in the most recent year for which data were available, and, wherever possible, across the last five years. Section 95 of the Criminal Justice Act 1991 requires the Government to publish statistical data to assess whether any discrimination exists in how the CJS treats people based on their race.

These statistics are used by policy makers, the agencies who comprise the CJS and others to monitor differences between ethnic groups and where practitioners and others may wish to undertake more in-depth analysis. The identification of differences should not be equated with discrimination as there are many reasons why apparent disparities may exist.

Specific findings

Victims

The most recent data on victims showed differences in the risks of crime between ethnic groups and, for homicides, in the relationship between victims and offenders. Overall, the number of racist incidents and racially or religiously aggravated offences recorded by the police had decreased over the last five years. Key Points:

• The 2010/11 British Crime Survey (BCS) showed that the risk of being a victim of personal crime was higher for adults from a Mixed background than for other ethnic groups. It was also higher for members of all BME groups than for the White group.
• Over the five-year period 2006/07 to 2010/11, there was a statistically significant fall in the risk of being a victim of personal crime for members of the White group of 0.8%. The apparent decrease for those from BME groups was not statistically significant.
• Of the 2,007 homicides recorded for the latest three-year period (2007/08 to 2009/10), 75% of victims were White, 12% Black and 8% Asian.
• In the majority of homicide cases, victims were suspected of being killed by someone from the same ethnic group, which is consistent with previous trends (88% of White victims, 78% of Black victims and 60% of Asian victims).

Suspects

Per 1,000 population, higher rates of s1 Stop and Searches were recorded for all BME groups (except for Chinese or Other) than for the White group. While there were decreases across the last five years in the overall number of arrests and in arrests of White people, arrests of those in the Black and Asian group increased.

• Per 1,000 of the population, Black persons were Stopped and Searched 7.0 times more than White people in 2009/10 compared to 6.0 times more in 2006/07.
• When referring to the rate per 1,000 population for England and Wales, it is important to bear in mind that the higher rate than that obtained for the rest of England and Wales(excluding the Metropolitan Police Service) is the product of the aggregation of 42 police force areas (PFAs), each with different distributions of both ethnic population and use of Stop and Search powers. While the area served by the Metropolitan Police Service accounts for 14% of the England and Wales population, 43% of s1 Stop and Searches are carried out by the Metropolitan Police Service.
• Across England and Wales, there was a decrease (just over 3%) in the total number of arrests in 2009/10 (1,386,030) compared to 2005/06 (1,429,785). While the number of arrests for the White group also decreased during this period, arrests of Black persons rose by 5% and arrests of Asian people by 13%.
• Overall, there were more arrests per 1,000 population of each BME group (except for Chinese or Other) than for people of White ethnicity in 2009/10. Black persons were arrested 3.3 times more than White people, and those from the Mixed ethnic group 2.3 times more.
• In 2009/10, just over 9% of s1 Stop and Searches compared with 12%, 4% and 1% respectively in 2006/07.

Defendants

Data on out of court disposals and court proceedings show some differences in the sanctions issued to people of differing ethnicity and also in sentence lengths. These differences are likely to relate to a range of factors including variations in the types of offences committed and the plea entered, and should therefore be treated with caution. Key points:

• Conviction ratios for indictable offences were higher for Wh

This is the quarterly Q4 2024 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 2024.

This is the second release of data following the implementation of the “One Crown” project which has aligned definitions, methodologies and data processing for all published Crown Court measures across MOJ and HMCTS. Following an external quality review in December, the data have undergone a review by the Office for Statistics regulation which agreed with the earlier review to find significant confidence in the data and retain the Accredited Official Statistics status of this release.

As part of the “One Crown” implementation, we have continued to improve our Crown Court methodology and align HMCTS and MoJ processes. We have reviewed and improved all remaining headline Crown Court measures. This approach ensures that we continue to release robust, trustworthy and high value data. The impact of change is small, and trends are largely unchanged. Further detail concerning each change and the impacts on published series are available in the consultation document.

The demand on the criminal courts continues to grow with receipt volumes increasing at both the magistrates’ courts and the Crown Court. Receipts in the last year are higher than they have been across the series and are 13% higher than the previous year.

Disposals volumes have increased but remain below receipts at both magistrates and Crown courts resulting in the open caseload continuing to grow. At the Crown Court the open caseload continued to report a series peak, reaching 74,651 cases at the end of December 2024.

In the latest period trial effectiveness has remained stable and timeliness has fallen back from series peaks – both remain above pre-COVID levels seen in 2019.

Criminal court statistics quarterly, January to March 2025

The next criminal court statistics publication is scheduled for release on 27th June 2025.

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

Private Offices; Permanent Secretary; Director General, Policy; Director General, Chief Operating Officer Group; Direct, Courts and Family Justice; Director Analysis; Director, Chief Data Officer; Deputy Director, Criminal Justice Strategy and Criminal Courts Policy; Criminal Court Policy and Procedure; Criminal Court Insights; Deputy Director, Courts and Tribunals Joint Unit; Courts and Tribunal Joint Unit; Deputy Director, RASSO and Domestic Abuse Policy; Rape Review; Courts Victim Experience and Attrition; Deputy Head of News; 3 Press Officers.

Her Majesty’s Court and Tribunals Service

Chief Executive, HMCTS; Chief Finance Officer, HMCTS; Director of Operations, HMCTS; Director, Strategy Analysis and Planning; Director, Communications; Head of External Communications, HMCTS; Deputy Director of Analysis and Performance (x2); Crime reporting and analysis; Deputy Director, Crime Live Service Owner; Crime Service Manager (x2); Deputy Director, Intelligent Client Function and Contract Services Division; Operational Contract Manager; Contract Support Officer.

Judicial Office

Chief Executive; Head of Digital and Data; Data Analyst (x2)

No.10

Private Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs; Justice and Home Affairs Policy Unit; Communications; Analysts

This is the quarterly Q3 2020 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:

• Management information concerning the enforcement of financial penalties in England and Wales;

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

• Experimental statistics on Failure to Appear Warrants at magistrates’ courts in England and Wales.

Additional data tools and CSVs have also been provided.

Statisticians comment

“This report covers the period to the end of September 2020 and shows the continued impact of COVID-19 on criminal courts.

Following the limited operation of the criminal courts and the gradual reintroduction of jury trials during the report period, the figures published today show signs of recovery in the system. This can be more clearly seen at the magistrates’ courts, where disposals have risen sharply in the latest quarter though are still below pre-COVID levels. A higher volume of disposals than receipts in the latest period has meant that the outstanding caseload has fallen.

Some of the magistrates’ court disposals will feed directly through to the Crown Court, where receipts have doubled in the latest quarter. Disposals have also increased but not at the same rate as receipts, as a result the outstanding caseload has risen.
The trends at both magistrates’ courts and the Crown Court continue beyond the National Statistics series into more recent management information published by Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal Service (HMCTS) – which are highlighted in this document.”

Criminal court statistics quarterly, October to December 2020

The next criminal court statistics publication is scheduled for release in March 2021.

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 postholders:

Ministry of Justice

Permanent Secretary; Director General, Policy, Communications and Analysis; Director, Criminal Justice Policy; Deputy Director, Criminal Courts Policy; Criminal Court Reform Lead; 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

Bar Council

Chair of the Bar Council, Director of Communications, Research Manager

Home Office

1 Senior Policy Official and 1 Statistician

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.