Record Backlog in England and Wales Courts Spurs Calls for Radical Reform
As of 18 December 2025, England and Wales face a severe backlog in criminal cases, with over 79,600 cases awaiting trial. The Crown Court backlog has reached record highs since 2023, and the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) projects this could rise to about 100,000 cases by 2028.
Serious-crime cases may take until 2030 to go to trial, prompting discussion of radical reforms, including removing juries from certain trials to accelerate the justice process. This backlog increase is closely tied to funding cuts since 2010. While the MoJ budget nominally increased from £9 billion in 2010 to about £13 billion today, this represents a real-terms cut of £4.5 billion. Additionally, eight Crown Court centres and more than 160 magistrates courts were closed by 2022.
The Covid-19 pandemic worsened delays: Crown Courts were closed for two months and social-distancing reduced usable courtrooms. Nightingale courts opened from 2020 to 2024 but cannot handle serious custody cases, with five still operating until March 2026. The closure of Blackfriars Crown Court in 2019, with its cases moved to Snaresbrook, contributed to a backlog exceeding 4,200 cases by September 2023.
Cuts and freezes to legal aid funding, equating to a £728 million real-terms cut between 2012 and 2023, caused a 12% fall in criminal barristers from 2018 to 2024, triggering strikes in 2022 and slowing case progression. Police recruitment promises of 20,000 additional officers in 2019 were not matched by court capacity planning, exacerbating the mismatch between policing and court resources.
Remand pressures are significant, with approximately 17,700 people remanded and nearly 12,000 awaiting trial. Remand prisoners comprise about 20% of the prison population. The MoJ projects total prison numbers to exceed 100,000 by 2030, prompting early-release schemes and broader reforms to manage the increasing pressures on the justice system.
