Criminal court statistics bulletin: July to September 2016
Source: data.gov.uk (2018-05-25)

Criminal Court Statistics. This publication provides aggregated data on workload, effectiveness and timeliness in magistrates courts and the Crown Court. It is designed to provide a summary overview of the volume and types of cases dealt with by courts over time. The data available includes receipts, disposals and outstanding cases by case type, effective, ineffective and cracked trials, plea information, waiting times, hearing times and duration of cases from offence to completion by case type and offence. It is produced on a quarterly basis with extra information included in the June annual publication, such as unrepresented defendants, juror sitting days and election of the defendant.

0 
 
 
 
Criminal court statistics 
quarterly, England and Wales 
 
July to September 2016 
 
Ministry of Justice 
Statistics bulletin 
 
 
Published 15 December 2016 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
1 
 
Contents 
1 
Introduction 
2 
Changes and revisions in this publication 
4 
Key Findings 
5 
Criminal Courts 
6 
1. 
Criminal cases in the magistrates’ courts 
6 
2. 
Criminal cases in the Crown Court 
7 
3. 
Timeliness 
12 
Annex A: Enforcement of financial impositions 
15 
Annex B: List of Accompanying Tables and CSV 
18 
Annex C: Explanatory notes 
21 
Previous editions 
22 
Contacts 
22 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
2 
 
Introduction 
 
The statistical bulletin 
 
This publication presents statistics relating to activity in criminal cases in magistrates’ 
courts and the Crown Court in England and Wales. It provides provisional figures for 
the latest quarter (July to September 2016), with accompanying commentary and 
analysis. The figures themselves give a summary overview of the volume of cases 
dealt with by these courts over time. The statistics are used to monitor court 
workloads, to assist in the development of policy, and their subsequent monitoring 
and evaluation.  
Information on the enforcement of financial impositions can be found in Annex A. The 
annex provides updated management information on the collection of financial 
impositions through Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS).  
 
Criminal Courts; an overview 
 
Magistrates’ courts  
 
Virtually all criminal court cases start in the magistrates’ courts. The less serious 
offences are handled entirely in magistrates’ courts, with over 90% of all cases being 
dealt with in this way. The more serious offences are passed on to the Crown Court, 
either for sentencing after the defendant has been found guilty in the magistrates’ 
court, or for trial with a judge and jury. 
 
As part of wider measures in the justice system, committal hearings were abolished 
nationally1 at the end of May 2013. As a result of the change, triable-either-way cases 
can now be sent straight to the Crown Court as soon as it is clear the matter is serious 
enough, rather than having to await a committal hearing.  
The Crown Court  
 
The Crown Court deals with cases received from the magistrates’ courts for 
sentencing, trial or appeal against magistrates’ courts’ decision. Of those proceeded 
against in the magistrates’ courts, around 5% of defendants go on to the Crown Court 
for trial. 
Triable-either-way cases can be sent to the Crown Court for trial if the magistrates’ 
courts decide the matter is serious enough or if a defendant elects to be tried by judge 
and jury.  
Indictable only cases can only be tried on indictment in the Crown Court as they 
cannot be heard summarily at the magistrates’ courts.  
                                            
1 www.gov.uk/government/news/faster-justice-as-unneccessary-committal-hearings-are-abolished 

 
 
3 
 
Committed for sentence cases are transferred to the Crown Court for sentencing only 
after a defendant has been convicted in a magistrates’ court. This would occur where 
a magistrate believes that their sentencing powers are insufficient to apply an 
appropriate sanction to the defendant. 
 
In its appellate jurisdiction the Crown Court deals mainly with appeals against 
conviction and/or sentence in respect of criminal offences, including consequential 
orders, e.g. disqualification from driving, and against the making of certain standalone 
orders, e.g. Anti-Social Behaviour Orders. The Crown Court may dismiss or allow the 
appeal and vary all or any part of the sentence. Appeals are usually heard by a Circuit 
Judge sitting with no more than four lay magistrates (normally two). 
 
Average waiting time at the Crown Court 
 
‘Average waiting time’ is the time between sending a case to the Crown Court and 
the start of the substantive hearing. 
 
Average hearing time at the Crown Court 
 
 
The ‘average hearing time’ relates to the average duration of all hearings heard in 
the Crown Court, including preliminary hearings, main hearings, and hearings where 
a sentence is given to a defendant. 
 
Data and court processes 
 
Information about the systems and data included in this publication can be found in 
the ‘A guide to criminal court statistics’ which is published alongside this report. It 
also includes a glossary which provides brief definitions for the terms used in this 
report. 
 
www.gov.uk/government/publications/a-guide-to-criminal-court-statistics 

 
 
4 
 
Changes and revisions in this publication  
Changes to timeliness methodology to remove 10 year threshold  
 
All timeliness figures in this publication are based on new timeliness methodology 
which include cases with an offence to completion duration of over 10 years, as 
explained below. 
Following a consultation in early 2015, a proposal was agreed to make changes to 
the end-to-end case timeliness methodology applied within this publication. The 
proposed change was to remove the 10 year threshold from the validation scripts 
applied to published estimates. In June 2016 we confirmed our intention to 
implement the changes and released the first set of tables as experimental statistics 
in the September 2016 bulletin. 
In addition, Single Justice Procedure (SJP) cases were included within the statistics 
for the first time in the September bulletin. These cases were introduced in June 
2015 and apply to adult only summary non imprisonable offences which can only be 
dealt with by magistrates’ courts.  
In the September 2016 publication, tables based on both the existing and new 
experimental timeliness methodologies were published, along with a separate 
annex document providing users with a detailed explanation of the change in 
approach and comparisons between statistics produced under the two 
methodologies. 
Following further scrutiny, a small number of changes have been made to the new 
methodology; SJP cases are now excluded if their offence duration was over 10 
years or if the laying of information date was prior to 2014. The figures, based on 
the new methodology, have therefore been reproduced following the publication in 
September 2016 and are no longer classified as ‘experimental statistics’.  
Additional magistrates’ courts timeliness tables – excluding cases committed 
to the Crown Court 
 
Published timeliness tables at a national level for magistrates’ court cases in table 
T2 include cases committed to the Crown Court. The timeliness transparency file, 
however, only includes cases fully dealt with in the magistrates’ courts, thereby 
excluding cases committed to the Crown Court. For completeness, an additional 
national level magistrates’ court table has been produced (table T3) to present 
national timeliness statistics in the same way as the transparency file. This 
additional table therefore only includes cases fully dealt with at magistrates’ courts 
and exclude cases committed to the Crown Court; it is now part of the set of 
timeliness tables produced each quarter.   
 
 

 
 
5 
 
 
Key Findings 
This report presents statistics relating to activity in criminal cases in the magistrates’ 
courts and the Crown Court in England and Wales in the third quarter of 2016 (July 
to September). 
 
 Disposals in magistrates’ courts remain higher than receipts, resulting in the 
outstanding magistrates’ court caseload dropping to 281,600 at the end of Q3 
2016, the lowest level in the time period reported. 
 
 Outstanding cases in the Crown Court have been gradually decreasing since Q4 
2014. Between Q2 2016 and Q3 2016 they declined by 5% to 41,800 cases, the 
lowest number of outstanding cases since Q1 2013. 
 
 Over the last 12 months, for cases completing in the Crown Court, the average 
number of days from first listing to completion in the Crown Court decreased 
overall from 198 days in Q3 2015 to 193 days in Q3 2016. 
 
 Hearing times for not guilty trials in the Crown Court have increased in the latest 
quarter to 14.5 hours in Q3 2016. Hearing times for guilty plea trials have 
remained fairly steady with a small increase to 1.7 hours into Q3 2016. 
 
 

 
 
6 
 
Criminal Courts  
At the third quarter of 2016, there were around 240 magistrates’ courts and 
approximately 75 Crown Court locations across England and Wales.  
 
1. Criminal cases in the magistrates’ courts 
 
Figure 1 below shows receipts, disposals and outstanding cases at magistrates’ 
courts in England and Wales.  
 
Figure 1: Magistrates’ courts caseload, Q2 2012 to Q3 2016
 
Receipts in the magistrates’ courts (figure 1)  
 
Receipts have been declining since the end of 2015, falling by 7% since the last 
quarter of 2015, and by 3% between Q2 2016 and Q3 2016. 
  
Disposals (figure 1)  
 
Following a peak of 412,400 disposals in Q1 2016, the number of disposals has been 
falling, decreasing by 3% from Q2 2016 to 386,500 in Q3 2016, the lowest number 
since Q2 2014. Despite the decline in disposals they continued to be higher than 
receipts.  
 
Outstanding cases (figure 1)  
 
Outstanding cases dropped to 281,600 cases at the end of Q3 2016, the lowest 
level in the time period reported, and a 4% decrease compared to Q2 2016. 
 
0
50,000
100,000
150,000
200,000
250,000
300,000
350,000
400,000
450,000
Q2
Q3
Q4
Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
Q1
Q2
Q3
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
Number of cases
Receipts
Disposals
Cases outstanding at end of quarter

 
 
7 
 
2. Criminal cases in the Crown Court 
 
Figure 2 below shows quarterly receipts, disposals and outstanding cases in Crown 
Court in England and Wales. 
 
Figure 2: Crown Court caseload, Q1 2010 to Q3 2016  
 
Receipts (figure 2) 
 
Although receipts rose by 2% since the last quarter, they have been gradually 
declining since Q3 2013, decreasing by 8% between Q3 2015 and Q3 2016. This 
latest figure of 29,400 was the second lowest of the quarterly time series. 
 
Disposals (figure 2) 
 
Disposals have fallen by 3% in the last quarter to 31,500, with an overall decrease of 
4% since Q3 2015. Despite this, disposals have continued to be higher than receipts 
for the last seven quarters, driving the falling trend in the number of outstanding 
cases. 
 
Outstanding cases (figure 2) 
 
Outstanding cases in the Crown Court have been gradually decreasing since Q4 
2014. Between Q2 2016 and Q3 2016 they declined by 5% to 41,800 cases, the 
lowest number of outstanding cases since Q1 2013.  
 
0
10,000
20,000
30,000
40,000
50,000
60,000
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
Number of cases
Receipts
Disposals
Cases outstanding at end of quarter

 
 
8 
 
Receipts by case type (figure 3) 
 
Triable-either-way trial case receipts rose by 3% from Q2 2016, driving the overall 
trend in Crown Court receipts this quarter. Overall however, there was a downward 
trend in Triable-either-way receipts over the last twelve months, with a decrease of 
17% between Q3 2015 and Q3 2016. Indictable only trial case receipts fell by 3% 
between Q2 2016 and Q3 2016, with an overall decrease of 7% since Q3 2015. 
 
Committed for sentence and appeals receipts rose between Q2 2016 and Q3 2016 
by 3% and 6%, respectively. Over a longer period, the number of committed for 
sentence receipts has increased by 3% since Q3 2015, while appeals have 
decreased by 2% over the same time period. 
 
Figure 3: Crown Court receipts by case type, Q1 2010 to Q3 2016  
 
 
 
 
0
2,000
4,000
6,000
8,000
10,000
12,000
14,000
16,000
18,000
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
Number of reciepts
For trial (Triable-either-way)
For trial (Indictable Only)
Committed for sentence
Appeals against mags' decisions

 
 
9 
 
Disposals by case type (figure 4) 
 
Overall, triable-either-way disposals have been higher than receipts since Q1 2015, 
even though disposals decreased by 6% between Q2 2016 and Q3 2016.  The 
number of indictable only disposals has also decreased by 6% over the same time 
period, from 7,900 in Q2 2016 to 7,500 in Q3 2016.  
 
Committed for sentence disposals have increased by 8% since Q3 2015, whilst 
appeals have fluctuated since Q3 2015, with a small increase of 3% from Q2 2016. 
 
Figure 4: Crown Court disposals by case type, Q1 2010 to Q3 2016  
 
 
 
 
 
0
2,000
4,000
6,000
8,000
10,000
12,000
14,000
16,000
18,000
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
Number of Disposals
For trial (Triable-either-way)
For trial (Indictable Only)
Committed for sentence
Appeals against mags' decisions

 
 
10 
 
Outstanding cases by case type (figure 5) 
 
The trend in triable-either-way outstanding cases has driven the trend in the overall 
number of outstanding cases, with a decrease of 6% in the latest quarter and 26% 
between Q3 2015 and Q3 2016. This declining trend, seen since Q1 2015, has been 
driven by triable-either-way disposals being greater than corresponding receipts over 
this time period. 
 
Indictable only cases have followed a similar pattern but to a lesser magnitude, 
decreasing by 4% in the latest quarter and by 14% between Q3 2015 and Q3 2016. 
Committed for sentence outstanding cases had remained fairly steady since Q2 2014 
but have fallen by 3% in the latest quarter. Appeals have also declined in Q3 2016, 
by 4% compared to Q2 2016. 
 
 
Figure 5: Crown Court outstanding cases by type, Q1 2010 to Q3 2016   
 
 
 
 
 
 
0
5,000
10,000
15,000
20,000
25,000
30,000
35,000
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
Number of outstanding cases
For trial (Triable-either-way)
For trial (Indictable Only)
Committed for sentence
Appeals against mags' decisions

 
 
11 
 
Receipts, disposals and outstanding cases by offence group (figure 6) 
 
In Q3 2016, violence against the person had the highest volume of receipts, 
followed by theft offences, drug offences and miscellaneous crimes against society. 
 
For disposals, violence against the person had the highest number in Q3 2016 
followed by drug offences, miscellaneous crimes against society and theft offences. 
 
Outstanding cases followed a similar pattern, with violence against the person 
having the highest number of cases, followed by sexual offences and 
miscellaneous crimes against society. Although the number of disposals for sexual 
offences was higher than receipts in Q3 2016, the high number of outstanding 
cases may be due to the length of time these cases take to complete in comparison 
to other offence groups. 
 
At Q3 2016, disposals were higher than receipts for each offence group, resulting in 
outstanding cases decreasing across each of the groups between Q2 and Q3 2016.  
 
 
Figure 6: Crown Court receipts, disposals and outstanding cases by offence group, for trial 
cases, Q3 2016 
 
 
 
0
1,000
2,000
3,000
4,000
5,000
6,000
7,000
8,000
9,000
Number of cases
Receipts
Disposals
Outstanding cases at end of quarter

 
 
12 
 
3. Timeliness  
 
Methodology notes 
The statistics below are based on the revised end-to-end timeliness methodology, 
which were published for the first time as experimental statistics in the previous 
quarterly publication, published in September 2016. The figures now include cases 
where the total duration from offence to completion is greater than 10 years. Please 
see the Changes and revisions in this publication section of this bulletin for more 
details on changes to the timeliness methodology. 
 
Offence to completion in the magistrates’ courts 
 
For cases in the magistrates’ courts, the (mean) average number of days from 
offence to completion increased steadily from 156 days in Q3 2013 to 177 days in 
Q1 2016, but decreased to 173 days in Q3 2016. 
 
 
Crown Court criminal cases - First listing in the magistrates’ courts to 
completion in the Crown Court (figure 7) 
 
 
Figure 7: Average number of days (mean) from first listing in the magistrates’ courts to 
completion in the Crown Court, for Crown Court criminal cases, Q2 2010 to Q3 2016  
 
 
 
 
 
 
0
50
100
150
200
250
Q2
Q3
Q4
Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
Q1
Q2
Q3
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
Average number of days (mean)
First listing at MC to receipt in CC
Receipt by CC to main hearing
Main hearing to completion at CC

 
 
13 
 
The average number of days from first listing to completion in the Crown Court has 
increased from 185 days in Q1 2016 to 193 days in Q3 2016, although it’s still lower 
than the Q3 2015 level of 198 days.  
 
The average time from first listing at the magistrates’ court to receipt by the Crown 
Court has remained fairly steady since late 2014, taking 6 days in Q3 2016. 
 
The average time from receipt by the Crown Court to completion decreased from 193 
days in Q3 2015 to 187 days in Q3 2016, driving the overall decrease in the number 
of days from first listing to completion over the last 12 months. In the latest quarter, 
however, the average time from receipt by the Crown Court to completion increased 
by 4 days from 183 days in Q2 2016.  
 
 
Average waiting times at the Crown Court (figure 8) 
 
Waiting times for triable-either-way cases have increased since the last quarter from 
20.6 weeks in Q2 2016 to 20.9 weeks in Q3 2016, continuing the increasing trend 
seen since Q3 2013. Indictable only cases have decreased from 21.8 weeks in Q2 
2016 to 21.4 weeks in Q3 2016, although they have increased overall since Q3 2013.  
 
For non-trial cases, there was a small decrease of 0.3 weeks for committed for 
sentence cases, but a slightly larger decrease of 0.7 weeks for appeals; both have 
remained fairly stable over the time period reported. 
 
Figure 8: Average waiting time (weeks) at the Crown Court, Q1 2010 to Q3 2016 
 
 
 
 
0
3
6
9
12
15
18
21
24
Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
Q1 Q2
Q3
Q4
Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
Q1
Q2
Q3
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
Average waiting time (weeks)
For trial (Triable-either-way)
For trial (Indictable Only)
Committed for sentence
Appeal

 
 
14 
 
Average hearing times at the Crown Court (figure 9) 
 
Hearing times for not guilty trials in the Crown Court fluctuated throughout 2014 and 
2015 but, overall, they have increased by 1.8 hours from Q3 2015 to 14.5 hours in 
the latest quarter. Hearing times for guilty plea trials have remained fairly steady 
with a small increase to 1.7 hours into Q3 2016. 
 
Figure 9: Average hearing time (hours) at the Crown Court, Q1 2010 to Q3 2016 
 
0
3
6
9
12
15
18
21
Q1
Q2 Q3
Q4 Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
Q1
Q2 Q3
Q4
Q1 Q2
Q3
Q4
Q1 Q2
Q3 Q4
Q1 Q2
Q3
Q4 Q1
Q2 Q3
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
Average hearing time (hours)
Not Guilty plea trials
Guilty plea trials

 
 
15 
 
Annex A: Enforcement of financial impositions 
The following section provides updated management information on the collection of 
financial impositions through Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS). 
Impositions made in this time period are reported, and payment information will 
continue to be recorded. 
Financial impositions are ordered by the criminal courts for payment by offenders at 
sentencing and include financial penalties such as fines, prosecutors’ costs, 
compensation orders and victim surcharge. Financial penalties are the most 
commonly used sentence and form a significant part of HMCTS’ collection and 
enforcement business. Accounting centres also enforce penalty notices for disorder 
and fixed penalty notices registered as fines for enforcement. The financial imposition 
statistics presented here do not include confiscation orders. Figure 10 shows the 
financial impositions for each quarter split by imposition type.  
 
 
Figure 10: HMCTS management information: Financial impositions by imposition type, 
England and Wales, Q2 2011 to Q3 2016 
 
 
 
 
Note: The Criminal Court Charge (CCC) ceased to exist on 24 December 2015 but 
impositions still appear due to when the data are entered onto the system. 
 
 
 
 
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
Q2
Q3
Q4
Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
Q1
Q2
Q3
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
Financial impositions in period (£ millions)
CCC
Other
Costs
Fines
Victims surcharge
Compensation

 
 
16 
 
Financial penalties paid (Table A1)  
 
Financial penalties can be imposed by the magistrates’ courts and the Crown Court; 
although they are all collected and enforced by the HMCTS National Compliance and 
Enforcement Service.  
 
Overall there has been an increasing trend since Q2 2014 in the total value of 
financial penalties paid, regardless of the age of the imposition. Following a peak in 
Q2 2016 the total financial impositions fell by 15% to £100 million in Q3 2016, 
although this was a 9% increase when compared to Q3 2015. 
 
Financial impositions and amounts paid by imposition type (Table A2, figure 
10)  
 
After the abolition of the ‘Criminal Courts Charge’ in December 2015 the total financial 
impositions have decreased from the peak of £176 million in Q4 2015 to £156 million 
in Q3 2016, an 11% decrease. In Q3 2016 the total financial impositions fell by 4% 
compared to Q2 2016, driven mainly by a decrease of £11.9 million in compensation. 
In earlier quarters the gradually increasing trend in fines since Q2 2014 was the main 
driver for increases in total impositions. Despite a decrease in total impositions, fines 
increased by 8% between Q2 2016 and Q3 2016, continuing the increasing trend 
with a 42% increase since Q3 2015. 
 
In Q3 2016, 11% (£17.6 million) of all financial impositions imposed by the criminal 
courts were paid within the imposition month. This is a fall from Q2 2016 where we 
saw the highest amount imposed (£33.7m) and highest collection rate within the 
imposition month, which had been driven by an increase in compensation payments. 
There were a number of high value impositions for cases included within 
compensation, such as Health and Safety Executive cases during Q2 2016 which 
contributed to this high amount of compensation impositions. 
 
 
Financial impositions (£ million) for victim surcharge (Table A2, figure 11) 
 
Victim surcharge is an additional surcharge which is added to the fines that are 
imposed. The receipts obtained from the collection of these monies by HMCTS are 
passed to the Justice Policy Group of the MoJ to fund victims’ services. The amount 
imposed has been increasing since its scope and amounts payable were extended 
in October 2012. 
Following a period of stability between Q1 2015 and Q4 2015, impositions 
increased at the start of 2016 and were 14% higher at Q3 2016 than at Q4 2015 
although they were fairly stable in the last two quarters, Q2 2016 and Q3 2016. 
While the amount imposed has increased since 2015, the proportion of impositions 
collected within the imposition month has decreased from 11% in Q3 2015 to 9% in 
Q3 2016.  
 

 
 
17 
 
Figure 11: Financial impositions (£ million) for victim surcharge, Q2 2011 to Q3 2016 
 
 
 
 
 
Financial imposition accounts opened and closed (Table A3)  
 
An account is opened when a financial penalty is ordered in court and is closed 
when the imposition against the account has been paid or the imposition ceases. 
Where a defendant has more than one financial penalty and/or account, these can 
be consolidated into one account.  
 
There were 311,000 accounts opened in Q3 2016, a decrease of 4% since Q2 
2016, and a decrease of 4% when compared to the same period in the previous 
year. Of the accounts opened in Q3 2016, 9% (27,300) were closed within the 
imposition month.  
 
Outstanding financial impositions (Table A4)  
 
The amount outstanding is irrespective of the age of the imposition or the payment 
terms, and excludes all impositions already paid as well as both legal and 
administrative cancellations. Payment terms may include arrangements for 
offenders to pay amounts owed over a period of time.  
 
In Q3 2016, the total value of financial impositions outstanding in England and 
Wales was £747 million. The amount of outstanding financial impositions increased 
by 6% in the latest quarter, and has increased by 36% since Q1 2014. The increase 
since Q2 2015 is partially due to owed criminal court charge payments. 
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
14%
16%
18%
0.0
2.0
4.0
6.0
8.0
10.0
12.0
14.0
Q2
Q3
Q4
Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
Q1
Q2
Q3
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
Within imposition month (%)
Financial impositions in period (£ millions)
Imposed (£ millions)
Paid within 1 month of imposition (%)

 
 
18 
 
Annex B: List of Accompanying Tables and CSV  
Accompanying this publication are the following tables: 
Table M1 
Receipts, disposals and outstanding criminal cases in the magistrates' 
courts in England and Wales, annually 2012 - 2015, quarterly Q2 2012 – Q3 
2016 
Table M2 
Effectiveness of magistrates' courts' trials in England and Wales, annually 
2003 - 2015, quarterly Q1 2010 – Q3 2016 
Table M3 
Key reasons for ineffective magistrates' courts' trials in England and Wales, 
annually 2006 - 2015, quarterly Q1 2010 – Q3 2016 
Table M4 
Key reasons for cracked magistrates' courts' trials in England and Wales, 
annually 2010 - 2015, quarterly Q1 2010 – Q3 2016 
Table C1 
Receipts, disposals and outstanding cases in the Crown Court in England 
and Wales, annually 2000 - 2015, quarterly Q1 2010 – Q3 2016 
Table C1a  
Receipts by offence group in the Crown Court in England and Wales, annual 
2014 – 2015, quarterly Q1 2014 – Q3 2016 
Table C1b  
Disposals by offence group in the Crown Court in England and Wales, 
annual 2014 – 2015, quarterly Q1 2014 – Q3 2016 
Table C1c 
Outstanding cases by offence group in the Crown Court in England and 
Wales, annual 2014 – 2015, quarterly Q1 2014 – Q3 2016 
Table C2 
Effectiveness of Crown Court trials in England and Wales, annually 2007 - 
2015, quarterly Q1 2010 – Q3 2016 
Table C3 
Key reasons for ineffective Crown Court trials in England and Wales, 
annually 2007 - 2015, quarterly Q1 2010 – Q3 2016 
Table C4 
Key reasons for cracked Crown Court trials in England and Wales, annually 
2007 - 2015, quarterly Q1 2010 – Q3 2016 
Table C5 
Defendants dealt with in trial cases in the Crown Court by plea in England 
and Wales, annually 2001 - 2015, quarterly Q1 2010 – Q3 2016 
Table C6 
Defendants dealt with in trial cases by stage at which guilty plea was 
entered and accepted in the Crown Court, by receipt type, England and 
Wales, annually 2010 - 2015, quarterly Q1 2010 – Q3 2016 
Table C7 
Defendants dealt with in trial cases where a guilty plea was entered before a 
trial, during trial or at a cracked trial, and accepted in the Crown Court, by 
receipt type, England and Wales, annually 2010 - 2015, quarterly Q1 2010 – 
Q3 2016 
Table C8 
Average waiting times in the Crown Court in England and Wales, annually 
2000 - 2015, quarterly Q1 2010 – Q3 2016 

 
 
19 
 
Table C9 
Average waiting times (weeks) in the Crown Court for defendants dealt with 
in trial cases, by plea and remand type, England and Wales, annually 2007 - 
2015, quarterly Q1 2010 – Q3 2016 
Table C10 
Average hearing and waiting times for trial cases in the Crown Court by plea 
in England and Wales, annually 2000 - 2015, quarterly Q1 2010 – Q3 2016 
Table C11 
Average hearing times (hours) in the Crown Court for cases disposed of, by 
case type and plea, England and Wales, annually 2007 - 2015, quarterly Q1 
2010 – Q3 2016 
Table C12 
Appeals (against decisions of magistrates' courts) dealt with in the Crown 
Court, by appeal type and result, England and Wales, annually 2007 - 2015, 
quarterly Q1 2010 – Q3 2016 
Table T1 
Average number of days from offence to completion, percentage of 
proceedings completed at first listing and average number of hearings for 
criminal cases at the magistrates' courts by initial plea, England and Wales, 
annually 2010 - 2015, quarterly Q2 2010 – Q3 2016 
Table T2 
Average number of days taken from offence to completion for all criminal 
cases at the magistrates' courts including those committed to the Crown 
Court, annually 2010 – 2015, quarterly Q2 2010 – Q3 2016 
 
Table T3 
Average number of days taken from offence to completion for all criminal 
cases at the magistrates' courts, excluding those committed to the Crown 
Court, annually 2010 – 2015, quarterly Q2 2010 – Q3 2016 
 
Table T4 
Average number of days taken from offence to completion for Crown Court 
criminal cases in England and Wales, annually 2010 – 2015, quarterly Q2 
2010 – Q3 2016 
 
Table T5 
Average number of days taken from offence to completion for criminal 
cases, annually 2010 – 2015, quarterly Q2 2010 – Q3 2016 
 
Table T6 
Average number of days taken from offence to completion for all criminal 
cases by offence group, annually 2011 – 2015, quarterly Q3 2015 and Q3 
2016 
 
Table A1 
Enforcement of financial penalties in the magistrates' courts, England and 
Wales, annually 2004 - 2015, quarterly Q1 2010 – Q3 2016 
Table A2 
HMCTS management information: Financial impositions and amounts paid 
by imposition type, England and Wales, annual 2011 - 2015, quarterly Q2 
2011 – Q3 2016 
Table A3 
HMCTS management information: Number of financial imposition accounts 
opened and closed, annually 2011 - 2015, quarterly Q2 2011 – Q3 2016 
Table A4 
HMCTS management information: Total amount of financial impositions 
outstanding, annually 2011 - 2015, quarterly Q2 2011 – Q3 2016 
 
 

 
 
20 
 
 
There are also a number of csv files that support this publication, these include: 
 National and court level workload activity and case progression data 
 National and court level timeliness data 
 National and court level workload data by offence group 
 
 

 
 
21 
 
Annex C: Explanatory notes  
The United Kingdom Statistics Authority has designated these statistics as National 
Statistics, in accordance with the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 and 
signifying compliance with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics. Designation can 
be broadly interpreted to mean that the statistics: 
 meet identified user needs; 
 are well explained and readily accessible; 
 are produced according to sound methods, and 
 are managed impartially and objectively in the public interest.  
Once statistics have been designated as National Statistics, it is a statutory 
requirement that the Code of Practice shall continue to be observed. 
The statistics in this bulletin relate to cases in the magistrates’ courts and the Crown 
Court in England and Wales. Calendar year statistics are also provided. 
Breakdowns of many of the summary figures presented in this bulletin, such as split 
by court or by HMCTS area, are available in the Comma Separated Value (CSV) files 
that accompany this publication. 
 
Revisions 
 
The statistics in the latest quarter are provisional, and are therefore liable to revision 
to take account of any late amendments to the administrative databases from which 
these statistics are sourced. The standard process for revising the published statistics 
to account for these late amendments is as follows: 
 
 An initial revision to the statistics for the latest quarter may be made when the 
next edition of this bulletin is published. Further revisions may be made when 
the figures are reconciled at the end of the year. If revisions are needed in the 
subsequent year this will be clearly annotated in the tables. 
For more information please see the Guide to criminal court statistics. 
 
Symbols and conventions 
 
The following symbols have been used throughout the tables in this bulletin: 
..    
= Not applicable 
- 
= Not available 
0   
= Nil 
(r) 
= Revised data 
(p) 
= Provisional data 

 
 
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Previous editions 
 
Previous editions of Court Statistics Quarterly can be found at: 
www.gov.uk/government/collections/court-statistics-quarterly#court-statistics-
quarterly-reports 
 
Future publication 
 
The next publication of Criminal court statistics quarterly is scheduled to be published 
on 30 March 2017, covering the period October to December 2016. Following a 
consultation on the statistical release, “Use of language interpreter and translation 
services in courts and tribunals”, statistics on the use of interpreter and translation 
services will now be included in the Criminal court statistics quarterly, from March 
2017 onwards.  
 
Contacts 
 
Press enquiries on the contents of this bulletin should be directed to the Ministry of 
Justice or Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal Service (HMCTS) press offices: 
 
Ministry of Justice News Desk  
Tel: xx-xxxx-xxxx 
Email: xxx@xxx.xx 
Other enquiries about these statistics should be directed to the Justice Statistics 
Analytical Services division of the Ministry of Justice: 
 
Annie Sorbie 
Ministry of Justice 
102 Petty France 
London 
SW1H 9AJ 
Email: xxx@xxx.xx 
General enquiries about the statistics work of the Ministry of Justice can be emailed 
to xxx@xxx.xx 
General information about the official statistics system of the UK is available from 
www.statistics.gov.uk 
Feedback 
The structure and content of this report is continually being reviewed to reflect user 
requirements. If you have any feedback about these changes, or the report more 
generally, please contact the production team through the Justice Statistics Analytical 
Services division of the Ministry of Justice: 
Email: xxx@xxx.xx 

 
 
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Alternative formats are available on request from 
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