Civometry

Ministry of Justice · 9 June 2017 – 13 December 2019

Crown Court median waiting time during the Conservative 2017–2019 government

2017 Q1 → 2019 Q3 · 10 periods

↓ 22.2%−2 weeks

Crown Court median waiting time fell by 22.2% over the period, from 9 weeks (2017 Q1, the level when the government took office) to 7 (2019 Q3, the last complete period before it left office). That is an average of −9.6% a year over the term.

  1. Inherited level 2017 Q1: 9
  2. Level when it left 2019 Q3: 7
  3. method: latest complete period before start / before end

Changes during this period do not by themselves show what the government caused. Statistics reflect many influences, including earlier decisions, the economy and how the data is collected.

Crown Court median waiting time: 2016 Q1 to 2026 Q1ConservativeConservativeConservativeConservativeConservativeLabourLabour05102016201820202022202420262016 Q1: 12 weeks · published 25 June 20262016 Q2: 11 weeks · published 25 June 20262016 Q3: 9 weeks · published 25 June 20262016 Q4: 9 weeks · published 25 June 20262017 Q1: 9 weeks · published 25 June 20262017 Q2: 8 weeks · published 25 June 20262017 Q3: 8 weeks · published 25 June 20262017 Q4: 9 weeks · published 25 June 20262018 Q1: 9 weeks · published 25 June 20262018 Q2: 9 weeks · published 25 June 20262018 Q3: 8 weeks · published 25 June 20262018 Q4: 8 weeks · published 25 June 20262019 Q1: 8 weeks · published 25 June 20262019 Q2: 7 weeks · published 25 June 20262019 Q3: 7 weeks · published 25 June 20262019 Q4: 8 weeks · published 25 June 20262020 Q1: 8 weeks · published 25 June 20262020 Q2: 10 weeks · published 25 June 20262020 Q3: 9 weeks · published 25 June 20262020 Q4: 8 weeks · published 25 June 20262021 Q1: 10 weeks · published 25 June 20262021 Q2: 11 weeks · published 25 June 20262021 Q3: 12 weeks · published 25 June 20262021 Q4: 13 weeks · published 25 June 20262022 Q1: 13 weeks · published 25 June 20262022 Q2: 11 weeks · published 25 June 20262022 Q3: 10 weeks · published 25 June 20262022 Q4: 13 weeks · published 25 June 20262023 Q1: 13 weeks · published 25 June 20262023 Q2: 11 weeks · published 25 June 20262023 Q3: 10 weeks · published 25 June 20262023 Q4: 10 weeks · published 25 June 20262024 Q1: 11 weeks · published 25 June 20262024 Q2: 10 weeks · published 25 June 20262024 Q3: 9 weeks · published 25 June 20262024 Q4: 10 weeks · published 25 June 20262025 Q1: 10 weeks · published 25 June 20262025 Q2: 10 weeks · published 25 June 20262025 Q3: 10 weeks · published 25 June 20262025 Q4: 10 weeks · published 25 June 20262026 Q1: 11 weeks · published 25 June 2026
Published valueProvisional or revisedLatestShaded bands: governments (see labels)Hover, tap or use arrow keys to read a value; tap again to unpin
The chart as a table
PeriodCrown Court median waiting time
2016 Q112 weeks
2016 Q211 weeks
2016 Q39 weeks
2016 Q49 weeks
2017 Q19 weeks
2017 Q28 weeks
2017 Q38 weeks
2017 Q49 weeks
2018 Q19 weeks
2018 Q29 weeks
2018 Q38 weeks
2018 Q48 weeks
2019 Q18 weeks
2019 Q27 weeks
2019 Q37 weeks
2019 Q48 weeks
2020 Q18 weeks
2020 Q210 weeks
2020 Q39 weeks
2020 Q48 weeks
2021 Q110 weeks
2021 Q211 weeks
2021 Q312 weeks
2021 Q413 weeks
2022 Q113 weeks
2022 Q211 weeks
2022 Q310 weeks
2022 Q413 weeks
2023 Q113 weeks
2023 Q211 weeks
2023 Q310 weeks
2023 Q410 weeks
2024 Q111 weeks
2024 Q210 weeks
2024 Q39 weeks
2024 Q410 weeks
2025 Q110 weeks
2025 Q210 weeks
2025 Q310 weeks
2025 Q410 weeks
2026 Q111 weeks

Definition and caveats

The median weeks a defendant waited from their case reaching the Crown Court to the start of its substantive hearing, across all cases closed in the quarter — trials, sentence cases and appeals.

Doesn’t measure: Time at the magistrates' court or before charge, cases still waiting (only closed cases are measured, so the figure lags the backlog), or defendants whose waiting time could not be calculated.