The Ministry of Justice appears “over-reliant” on a major review into the courts system which will delay fundamental reforms needed by many months, MPs have warned.
A report from the Public Accounts Committee has raised concerns the department has “simply accepted” the record-high crown court backlog will continue to grow and it will wait for the results of the Leveson Review before planning changes to tackle it.
It comes amid a rising backlog in England and Wales, which has almost doubled in five years to 73,105 at the end of September last year.
In the report MPs warned the crown courts are unable to keep pace with the inflow of new cases, which is increasing after the recruitment of more than 20,000 police officers and a rise in complex cases.
Meanwhile, they are urging the Government to set out a plan of action to start addressing the backlog, building on its existing mitigating measures under the Criminal Justice Action Plan, while it waits for the report on reform from the Leveson Review expected in late spring.
The call comes as the Justice Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, announced on Wednesday that crown court judges will sit for a record number of days in the next financial year to help victims see justice done faster.
Chairman of the committee, Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, said: “The Government agrees with this committee that ‘justice delayed is justice denied’.
“Our report is a terrible indictment of our criminal justice system and the Government urgently need to reorganise it to aspire to that world-class standard for which the UK used to be renowned.”
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The chairman also warned of the “particularly severe consequences” for some victims and their families, as victims of rape and serious sexual offences can wait for three years or more for cases to come to trial.
The report added in the year to June 2024, 59% of adult rape victims dropped out of the justice system pre-charge because research showed they could not bear the trauma any longer.
The findings come as the Victims Commissioner published a report warning that the record levels of crown court delays are deepening the trauma of victims and making many feel justice is “out of reach”.
MPs are calling for ministers to work with the judiciary on trying to reduce the number of hearings that get postponed or delayed on the day for such cases as it is these circumstances that “distress the victims most”.
They also backed calls also made by the Victims Commissioner to look for ways to boost vital victim support services and to protect funding for it.
Addressing the highest number of prisoners on remand for 50 years was also among the recommendations from the committee.
Sir Geoffrey added: “The remand population has almost doubled from 9,602 in 2018 to 17,600 in September 2024 (20% of the entire prison population).
“Seven hundred and 70 prisoners have been on remand for over two years. These are shocking statistics involving sometimes innocent people which should be carefully scrutinised to see how the system could be improved.”
The report recommended for the Lord Chancellor to lead discussions with the Lady Chief Justice on how to reduce the remand population to levels seen in 2019 which would free up 8,000 prison places amid a capacity crisis.
It also called for more data to be collected on the group of prisoners to understand how long waits are having an impact on defendants awaiting trial and outcomes of their cases, to support them and their families.