Crown Court Statistics (Provisional Statistics) July – September 2011

Figures published today by the NI Courts and Tribunals Service in the quarterly Crown Court Bulletin outline the Crown court business received and dealt with from the quarter July to September 2011.

During the quarter;

• There were 411 Crown cases received
• 527 defendants were received in Crown Court
• The average time from committal to hearing was 153 days
• There were 372 Crown court sittings

Ends

Notes for Editors

During Jul - Sept 2011:

• Cases received and dealt with:
  There were 411 Crown cases received during July to September 2011.  This was a 1% increase on the 405 received during July to September 2010
• Defendants received and dealt with:
  527 defendants were received in Crown Court during July to September 2011 (a 2% increase since the same period last year, when 516 defendants were received
• Waiting times:
  The average time from committal to hearing for July to September 2011 was 153 days, compared with 123 days for the same period in 2010.
• Disposals:
  County Court Judges disposed of 99% of defendants (231).  18% of defendants were charged solely with offences against the person while 39% of defendants had a combination of charges
• Pleas and findings:
  Of the 233 defendants disposed in July to September 2011, 94 (40%) pleaded guilty to all charges.
• Crown Court sittings:
  In total there were 372 Crown court sittings for July to September 2011 compared with 325 for July to September 2010 (an increase of 14%), with a total time of 1111 hours sat compared with 938 hours sat during the same period last year. Please note that Summer recess took place in July and August.

Important Notes:

Figures are computed from a live database and may change due to late returns and further validations.

Date of disposal is based on the date of sentencing, date of acquittal or date a bill of indictment is not proceeded with.

Waiting times do not exclude recess.

You can view the full Crown Court Bulletin for July to September 2011 here.

If you have any further queries or if you have difficulty viewing the figures please contact:   

Press Team
Communications Group
Northern Ireland Court Service
Laganside House
23-27 Oxford Street
Belfast
BT1 3LA

Tel. 028 9041 2284