The Crown Court backlog has reached record levels, with tens of thousands of cases waiting for trial, sentencing, or another judicial decision. By the end of December 2024, around 74,200 cases were outstanding — the highest number recorded at that time. The caseload then continued to rise sharply throughout 2025.
Official Ministry of Justice (MoJ) data show 76,597 open cases in March 2025, increasing to 78,096 in June, and reaching 79,619 by September 2025. Last year, the backlog grew by 6,770 cases, taking it to almost 80,000 — more than double pre-pandemic levels. |
These figures, however, represent England and Wales combined. The Crown Court operates as a single, non-devolved jurisdiction meaning policy decisions, resourcing and statistical reporting are shared. Official Wales-specific backlog data is not routinely published, making it difficult to determine how pressures differ within Wales. Nonetheless, available data does allow some assessment of the Welsh position.
Scale of the backlog
A 2025 report by the UK Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) examined the system-wide backlog and made no distinction suggesting Wales was affected differently. It concluded that the MoJ had been unprepared for rising demand, warning that the department was “tinkering at the edges” of a system under severe strain.
MoJ modelling published in July 2025 projected that, without structural changes, the backlog for England and Wales could exceed 104,000 cases by 2029.
However, last month, the Lady Chief Justice, Baroness Carr, who also serves as Head of the Judiciary of England and Wales and President of the Courts of England and Wales, told the Senedd’s Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee that Wales is performing strongly in the Crown Court. She highlighted that waiting times are significantly shorter in Wales — an average of 15.9 weeks from case receipt to the first main hearing, compared with 24.2 weeks across England and Wales. She also noted that Wales’s total Crown Court backlog is smaller than that of just one major London court, Snaresbrook Crown Court. Overall, she described the Crown Court position in Wales as “relatively positive”.
What court-level data shows for Wales
Although Wales does not have a dedicated statistical series, some court‑level figures are available. FOI data compiled by Dr Robert Jones (Cardiff University) identified around 2,663 outstanding Welsh Crown Court cases at the end of 2024, up slightly from the previous year.
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Meanwhile, MoJ statistics for March 2025 show:
Note: The MoJ publishes data for only these three sites, despite Wales having additional Crown Court locations. |
These figures show rising or persistently high caseloads across Welsh courts, broadly tracking the overall 10% year‑on‑year increase across England and Wales. The lower absolute numbers in Welsh Crown Court caseloads are due to the smaller number of Welsh centres, rather than indicating reduced operational strain.
System-wide pressures
Professional bodies, including the Law Society, the Institute for Fiscal Studies and Institute for Government, highlight common structural pressures across England and Wales:
- Under‑resourcing and limited sitting days.
- Shortages of judges, barristers, and court staff.
- Increasing case complexity, especially sexual offences and cases involving extensive digital evidence.
- Administrative inefficiencies, including incomplete case files.
Long standing structural issues in Wales
The Commission on Justice in Wales (Thomas Commission, 2019) remains a key source for understanding Welsh justice infrastructure. Although predating the current backlog peak, and covering the wider court system, its findings continue to be relevant:
- Court Access and Closures: since 2010, at least 27 courts have closed in Wales, creating longer travel distances and reducing access for many communities. The Commission concluded that remaining court centres faced additional strain as a result.
- Welsh Cases Heard Outside Wales: the Commission highlighted inconsistent listing practices, with cases involving Welsh public bodies sometimes heard in England, raising concerns about coherence and accessibility. In February 2026, Baroness Carr emphasised the importance of Welsh cases being heard by a judge who understands the Welsh context.
- Court Estate: the Commission found several Welsh court buildings outdated and identified an urgent need for new facilities, including a replacement Cardiff Crown Court and improvements to multiple other sites. It also noted a large geographical area of Wales with no court provision at all. When meeting Senedd Members last month, Baroness Carr emphasised her particular concern about the condition of the Welsh court estate, indicating that the estimated maintenance backlog for England and Wales is around £1.3 billion.
- Governance Complexity: Wales operates within a mixture of devolved and reserved responsibilities. While policing, criminal law, courts and prisons remain reserved, many related services—such as mental health, housing and domestic abuse support—are devolved. The Commission argued that such complexity makes joined‑up justice policy harder to deliver.
UK Government reform proposals
Following Sir Brian Leveson’s 2025 review, the UK Government is considering measures intended to ease the backlog including:
- restricting jury trials for some offences.
- creating a new judge‑led Crown Court tier (expanding judge‑only trials).
- diverting additional cases to magistrates’ courts.
However, independent analysis suggests these options may have limited impact. The Institute for Government estimates that judge-only trials and related reforms would reduce total Crown Court time by only around 7–10%, which would not offset the growth seen in recent years.
According to media reports, Crown Courts in major English centres are listing trials several years ahead, with some London cases now scheduled for 2029. This suggests that some reforms may have developed largely in response to significant pressures in major English centres, particularly London and Manchester
The Lady Chief Justice, Baroness Carr, told Senedd Members that “Wales is disposing of more Crown Court cases than it receives, indicating strong performance and throughput”. This suggests Wales’ Crown Courts are clearing cases faster than new ones are coming in — the backlog is going down, not up.
On 24 February 2026, the Deputy Prime Minister, David Lammy MP set out further details of the UK Government’s justice reform programme, including the introduction of a National Listing Framework, greater use of AI‑enabled tools, and ‘Blitz courts’ in major English centres. These measures build on recommendations from the Leveson Review and are aimed at reducing delays.
Implications for Wales
Applying some of the proposed reforms to Wales raises several specific considerations.
Limited Wales‑specific data
Without dedicated statistical reporting for Wales, policymakers cannot fully assess local pressures or model how proposed reforms, such as jury trial restrictions, would operate in Welsh settings.
Welsh magistrates’ capacity
Many reform proposals assume that magistrates’ courts can absorb additional cases. However, Wales has fewer magistrates and continues to face recruitment and retention challenges. Research by Dr Robert Jones found that there were 11,850 outstanding cases in Welsh magistrates’ courts in 2024, raising questions about whether they could accommodate further increases in workload.
Proportionality of reforms
Court‑level figures indicate that Welsh Crown Courts account for a small proportion of the overall Crown Court backlog. Wales is therefore not a major contributor to the overall backlog growth. This raises questions about whether system-wide reforms, particularly those involving jury trials, would address the specific issues Welsh courts face.
Operational needs in Wales
Many issues identified for Wales relate to infrastructure, staffing, digital systems, and access - areas the Law Society highlighted as requiring significant investment. Their findings suggest that these problems could be addressed through operational improvements, which may deliver more immediate benefits for Welsh courts than reforms focused solely on altering trial formats.
A shared problem but not a uniform one
The Crown Court backlog is clearly a shared challenge across England and Wales. Welsh courts show rising caseloads that mirror overall trends. However, whether restrictions on jury trials or similar reforms are suitable for Wales remains uncertain without Wales‑specific modelling.
Overall, the evidence suggests that while Wales experiences the consequences of a shared justice system, it does so without the data or tools needed to assess and design solutions tailored to its own circumstances.
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This article is part of a series exploring key aspects of criminal justice in Wales, from the current devolution settlement and intergovernmental working, to probation, youth justice policy, and policing. |
Article by Sarah Hatherley, Senedd Research, Welsh Parliament
