Civometry

Crown Court median waiting time for trial: record highs and lows

The extremes of crown court median waiting time for trial as published by Ministry of Justice, across the 41 periods held here (2016 Q1 to 2026 Q1). Each record is a published figure, not a computed one, and the scope is this series — not “ever”.

Highest published

222021 Q4 — the same figure was published for at least one other period

Lowest published

122020 Q2

The full series

Crown Court median waiting time for trial: 2016 Q1 to 2026 Q1ConservativeConservativeConservativeConservativeConservativeLabourLabour010202016201820202022202420262016 Q1: 16 weeks · published 25 June 20262016 Q2: 17 weeks · published 25 June 20262016 Q3: 17 weeks · published 25 June 20262016 Q4: 17 weeks · published 25 June 20262017 Q1: 16 weeks · published 25 June 20262017 Q2: 16 weeks · published 25 June 20262017 Q3: 16 weeks · published 25 June 20262017 Q4: 17 weeks · published 25 June 20262018 Q1: 17 weeks · published 25 June 20262018 Q2: 18 weeks · published 25 June 20262018 Q3: 17 weeks · published 25 June 20262018 Q4: 16 weeks · published 25 June 20262019 Q1: 16 weeks · published 25 June 20262019 Q2: 15 weeks · published 25 June 20262019 Q3: 14 weeks · published 25 June 20262019 Q4: 16 weeks · published 25 June 20262020 Q1: 14 weeks · published 25 June 20262020 Q2: 12 weeks · published 25 June 20262020 Q3: 13 weeks · published 25 June 20262020 Q4: 13 weeks · published 25 June 20262021 Q1: 15 weeks · published 25 June 20262021 Q2: 18 weeks · published 25 June 20262021 Q3: 21 weeks · published 25 June 20262021 Q4: 22 weeks · published 25 June 20262022 Q1: 22 weeks · published 25 June 20262022 Q2: 21 weeks · published 25 June 20262022 Q3: 19 weeks · published 25 June 20262022 Q4: 21 weeks · published 25 June 20262023 Q1: 22 weeks · published 25 June 20262023 Q2: 22 weeks · published 25 June 20262023 Q3: 20 weeks · published 25 June 20262023 Q4: 21 weeks · published 25 June 20262024 Q1: 20 weeks · published 25 June 20262024 Q2: 21 weeks · published 25 June 20262024 Q3: 20 weeks · published 25 June 20262024 Q4: 20 weeks · published 25 June 20262025 Q1: 20 weeks · published 25 June 20262025 Q2: 20 weeks · published 25 June 20262025 Q3: 20 weeks · published 25 June 20262025 Q4: 21 weeks · published 25 June 20262026 Q1: 22 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 for trial
2016 Q116 weeks
2016 Q217 weeks
2016 Q317 weeks
2016 Q417 weeks
2017 Q116 weeks
2017 Q216 weeks
2017 Q316 weeks
2017 Q417 weeks
2018 Q117 weeks
2018 Q218 weeks
2018 Q317 weeks
2018 Q416 weeks
2019 Q116 weeks
2019 Q215 weeks
2019 Q314 weeks
2019 Q416 weeks
2020 Q114 weeks
2020 Q212 weeks
2020 Q313 weeks
2020 Q413 weeks
2021 Q115 weeks
2021 Q218 weeks
2021 Q321 weeks
2021 Q422 weeks
2022 Q122 weeks
2022 Q221 weeks
2022 Q319 weeks
2022 Q421 weeks
2023 Q122 weeks
2023 Q222 weeks
2023 Q320 weeks
2023 Q421 weeks
2024 Q120 weeks
2024 Q221 weeks
2024 Q320 weeks
2024 Q420 weeks
2025 Q120 weeks
2025 Q220 weeks
2025 Q320 weeks
2025 Q421 weeks
2026 Q122 weeks

What a record here is, and is not

A record is the extreme of the periods this site holds for the current series, at each period’s newest published release. Earlier series measured under different methods are not compared against it. Money is in cash terms: a record set years ago stands against the money of its own year.