Criminal court delays remain high denying people in Liverpool timely justice
New analysis by the Law Society of England and Wales about the time it takes to process criminal cases in Merseyside shows that court delays remain high affecting communities across the region.
News
New analysis by the Law Society of England and Wales about the time it takes to process criminal cases in Merseyside shows that court delays remain high affecting communities across the region*. The UK government must implement a broad package of measures and provide sustained investment in the justice system to repair this vital public service that we all rely on.
The pre-pandemic average time from offence to case completion in the criminal courts (2016-2019) was 548 days in Merseyside**. These delays affect every stage of the justice process and contribute to undue stress and uncertainty for those involved.
Delays rose sharply in 2021 and 2022. In the years that followed, the average duration settled back to around pre pandemic levels at 556 days (2023 and 2024):
- 2016: 573 days
- 2017: 611 days
- 2018: 541 days
- 2019: 469 days
- 2020: 439 days
- 2021: 629 days
- 2022: 618 days
- 2023: 556 days
- 2024: 556 days
According to the most recent 2025 data, in quarter one, the average number of days from offence to case completion was 587 and in quarter two 503***. Liverpool Crown Court has worked innovatively to speed up domestic abuse cases and some drug offences, resulting in an increase in early guilty pleas and significant time savings for courts and lawyers****. Despite some improvement, delays in Merseyside remain high leaving victims, witnesses and defendants waiting for a long time for cases to conclude.
Mark Evans, president of the Law Society, is visiting Liverpool on 12 March to discuss the findings and hear directly from solicitors about the challenges and opportunities facing the profession today.
He said: “While it is encouraging to see delays in Merseyside criminal courts down to pre-pandemic levels, cases are still taking too long to conclude. Delays of well over a year leave victims, witnesses and defendants in limbo and continue to undermine confidence in the justice system, which is a crucial public service.
“Local legal communities and high street law firms play a vital role in keeping the system moving. But they cannot do this alone.
“The government must continue to provide sustained investment in Liverpool’s courts to ensure that recent improvements are not lost and that there is proper access to justice for everyone.”
Notes to editors
* Timeliness measures reported here are mean average days across all closed cases heard in the magistrates and Crown Courts, from offence to completion. Timeliness at the magistrates’ courts measures the time from an offence being committed through key stages of the criminal justice system including charge or laying of the information, first listing and the subsequent completion of a defendant’s case at the magistrates’ court. End-to-end timeliness at the Crown Court measures the time from an offence being committed through key stages of the criminal justice system including charge, passage through the magistrates’ courts and subsequent completion of a defendant’s case. The estimates are created by linking magistrates’ courts and Crown Court data outputs to create an ‘end-to-end’ defendant journey across key stages of the criminal justice system. More information can be found here: Criminal court statistics quarterly: July to September 2025 - GOV.UK
**The Law Society of England and Wales carried out new analysis of publicly available data that can be found in the criminal court statistics quarterly and the CJS Dashboard. Further data, including median figures, can also be found here:
***The 503 days from offence to completion included an overall duration of 141 days for cases in the Crown Courts and 30 days in the Magistrates’ Court in Merseyside.
****Read the Law Society’s response to Brian Leveson’s independent review of the criminal courts.
The Law Society president Mark Evans is meeting various members, stakeholders and aspiring solicitors in Liverpool on 12 March 2026. If you would like to arrange an interview, please get in touch.
About the Law Society
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Press office contact: Kelis Edwards | 020 3657 0144.