Rise in unresolved crown court cases in Greater Manchester – as national backlog hits record high

The Victims' Commissioner has expressed "grave concern" at the record backlog in crown courts across England.

Ministry of Justice data shows there were 3,867 outstanding crown court cases in Greater Manchester in September – up from 3,485 a year earlier.

This was a rise from 1,990 outstanding cases in 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic.

Across England, there were 66,547 outstanding crown court cases. This was up six per cent on the year before and the highest figure since records began in 2014.

Baroness Newlove, Victims' Commissioner for England and Wales, said the figures were concerning and "no victim should be expected to wait years before their case gets to court".

On average, cases in Greater Manchester had been waiting 191 days to be dealt with – with 501 cases unresolved for two years or more.

In September 2019, cases in the area were waiting 118 days, while 66 had waits of longer than two years.

The Law Society of England and Wales cautioned the "fundamental right to access to justice is at stake without urgent investment into criminal justice".

President Nick Emmerson said the criminal justice system was "withering at the root due to decades of underinvestment and the Government’s failure to tackle the crisis" and court delays were compounded by a shortage of legal professionals, poor infrastructure and overrun prisons.

The Government previously set a target of reducing the backlog to 53,000 by March 2025.

The number of outstanding magistrate court cases has also risen and stands at 353,000.

Labour’s Shadow Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood said: "While the Government continues to outdo its own failures, it is victims up and down this country that are suffering because of this inept leadership."

A Ministry of Justice spokeswoman said: "People who break the law must face justice and these figures show crown courts are now dealing with the highest number of cases than at any point since 2019.

"This is a direct result of our decisive action to let courts run at full throttle – like lifting the cap on the number of court sitting days, keeping Nightingale Courts open and investing more in our buildings to deliver a modern and effective justice system."