West Yorkshire criminal courts deny public timely justice as delays hit record highs
News
New analysis by the Law Society of England and Wales about the time it takes to process criminal cases in West Yorkshire shows that court delays hit record highs 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 569 days in West Yorkshire**. 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 from offense to completion in the crown court continued to increase from 764 days to 861 days (2023 and 2024). According to recent 2025 data, the average number of days from offence to case completion was 846 in quarter one and in quarter two 826. ***
Delays in West Yorkshire remain high leaving victims, witnesses and defendants waiting for a long time for cases to conclude.
Criminal court delays in West Yorkshire are also being driven by poor building infrastructure that is not fit for purpose. Leeds ranks among the lowest‑rated courts in the country and is repeatedly cited for delays that deny access to timely justice.****
Mark Evans, president of the Law Society, is visiting Leeds in West Yorkshire on 25 March to discuss the findings and hear directly from solicitors about the challenges and opportunities facing the profession today.
He said: “With delays in West Yorkshire criminal courts now at record highs, cases are taking far too long to conclude. Delays of well over two years leave victims, witnesses and defendants in limbo and continue to undermine confidence in the justice system, which is a crucial public service.
“With six out of ten of Yorkshire and the Humber’s solicitors based in West Yorkshire, local legal communities play a critical role in keeping the system moving. However, they cannot do that with chronic under-investment in the courts. Recent government proposals to erode the right to a jury trial will not solve the backlogs.
“Local legal communities and high street law firms play a vital role in keeping the justice system moving. But they cannot do this into the future without sustained support from Government.
“The government must provide sustained investment in West Yorkshire courts to ensure that recent improvements are not lost and that there is proper access to justice for everyone.”
Notes to Editor
* 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.
- 2016: 560 days
- 2017: 609 days
- 2018: 564 days
- 2019: 540 days
- 2020: 444 days
- 2021: 612 days
- 2022: 684 days
- 2023: 763 days
- 2024: 861 days
***The 826 days from offence to completion included an overall duration of 257 days for cases in the Crown Courts and 10 days in the Magistrates’ Court.
****Read our State of the Courts report
The Law Society president Mark Evans is meeting various members, stakeholders and aspiring solicitors in Leeds on 25 March 2026. If you would like to arrange an interview, please get in touch.