Over 60 Crown Courtrooms Empty Daily Despite Record Case Backlog
Shocking new analysis has revealed that more than 64 Crown courtrooms across England and Wales sit empty and unused every working day, despite a record backlog of 80,000 cases waiting to be heard. This revelation comes as a significant blow to Justice Secretary David Lammy's controversial plans to tackle the soaring caseload by restricting jury trials.
Wasted Capacity in the Justice System
From the beginning of November last year through to the end of January, an average of 64.4 of the 516 Crown courtrooms in England and Wales remained vacant across standard working days. This represents more than 12 percent of the total court capacity lying idle when it could be processing the mounting caseload.
The situation becomes even more stark when examining specific dates. On Friday, November 7th, a remarkable 119 courtrooms were not sitting - almost one fifth of the entire Crown Court capacity. During the festive period, the figures reached even more alarming levels, with 275 courtrooms unused on December 23rd and 347 sitting empty on January 2nd.
Growing Crisis and Proposed Solutions
Current projections paint a grim picture for the future of the justice system, with Crown Court caseloads expected to reach 100,000 by 2028. This means that a suspect charged with an offence today might not appear before a jury until 2030. The problem extends beyond Crown Courts, with more than 360,000 outstanding cases currently waiting in magistrates' courts.
Justice Secretary David Lammy has introduced drastic plans to create 'swift courts' by scrapping jury trials for crimes likely to receive sentences of less than three years. Serious offences including murder and rape would still go before juries, with volunteer community magistrates taking on additional work.
Criticism from Legal Professionals
Criminal defence barrister Joanna Hardy-Susskind has been particularly vocal in her criticism of these proposals, questioning why the government isn't utilising existing court capacity instead of restricting jury trials.
'Could we please open and pay for these closed courtrooms and hold rape trials in them? Instead of restricting jury trial for thousands of people? If not, why not?' she asked pointedly.
'Cut jury trials to save 20 per cent of time? Or just open these courtrooms to utilise an extra 14 per cent capacity? Make it make sense.'
Systemic Underinvestment
Law Society president Mark Evans highlighted the deeper issues plaguing the justice system, stating: 'Given the unacceptable delays that victims, witnesses and defendants are facing in our criminal justice system it is alarming that the government chooses to leave so many court rooms empty.'
He attributed the problems to decades of underinvestment, noting that justice spending has fallen by 24 percent since 2007/2008. This has resulted in restrictions on sitting days, chronic shortages of judges, court staff and defence lawyers, and courtrooms falling into disrepair.
The human cost of these delays is substantial, with roughly 60 percent of rape victims reportedly withdrawing from prosecutions due to the extensive waiting times.
Government Response and Future Outlook
A Ministry of Justice spokesman defended the government's approach, stating: 'We are funding Crown Courts to sit at record levels, but that will not mean every courtroom is in constant use as there are many legitimate operational reasons rooms may be unavailable at any given time.'
Despite a record-high allocation of 111,250 Crown Court sitting days this financial year, incoming demand remains so high that even operating at these levels will not reduce the outstanding caseload. The Ministry maintains that clearing court delays requires combining record investment with greater efficiency and bold reforms to deliver swifter justice for victims.
As the debate continues, legal professionals and victims' advocates argue that the solution lies not in restricting fundamental legal rights, but in properly utilising and funding the existing court infrastructure to address the growing crisis in criminal justice.
