Criminal courts backlog: independent Leveson review
Government proposals erode the right to be judged by our own peers
Its proposals go beyond Leveson’s recommendations, and include:
- a new Bench Division – cases with a likely sentence of three years or less will be heard by a judge alone. This proposal is significantly different from Sir Brian’s which would have seen magistrates as well as a judge deciding these cases.
- courts will have the power to decide where either-way cases are heard, removing defendants’ rights to choose jury trial in many serious offences
- jury trials will be preserved for the most serious, indictable only cases, except lengthy fraud cases
- judge-only trials are to be introduced for particularly technical and lengthy fraud and financial offences
- giving magistrates the power to hand down sentences of up to 18 months so more cases can be heard by magistrates. The government says this will free up Crown Court time for the most serious offences, but it will add to magistrates’ growing backlogs.
The government has said the changes prioritise victims, but they are not addressing the fundamental problem that the justice system as a whole, and the criminal courts in particular, have been seriously underfunded by successive governments.
Justice spending is down 24% since 2007/2008.
The government needs to address:
- courtrooms in disrepair
- chronic shortages of judges court staff, prosecutors and defence lawyers
- overcrowded prisons, and overstretched probation services
It also needs to increase the use of out of court disposals so fewer cases enter the criminal justice system.
Sustained funding and reform are needed across the criminal justice system, which is currently failing the public it serves.
Our next steps
We have asked the Ministry of Justice to share the modelling behind these proposals, and are working through what the proposals mean for solicitors, the rule of law and access to justice.
We will lobby ministers and, when legislation is published, will brief parliamentarians.
What we're doing
Only a whole-system approach can deliver lasting change and restore public confidence in access to justice.
The report echoes our call to divert more cases away from the courts.
Solicitors play a vital role in this. By providing early legal advice, they prevent cases from going to court when they don't need to. This ultimately preserves capacity for the most serious offences.
The criminal courts are overstretched, facing increased demand with less resource, so we need bold system-wide solutions and new investment.
The proposed new division of the Crown Court on its own will not solve the Crown Court backlog.
Any ideas the government adopts must start with a commitment to long-term investment across the whole justice system.
Without it, the number of people stuck waiting years in legal limbo for their cases to be heard will continue to grow.
In February 2025, we responded to Sir Brian Leveson’s call for evidence.
We welcomed the review of the criminal courts and emphasised that the system must become more efficient and effective to:
- address the backlogs in both the Crown Court and the magistrates’ courts
- restore the criminal justice system as an essential public service
We called for the funding cuts from the last decade and a half to be reversed to ensure access to justice and a good service for all court users.