“Victims are being let down by the crisis in our courts”
18:35, 26 Dec 2025Updated 18:36, 26 Dec 2025
(Image: MEN Media)
New figures reveal the huge backlog in criminal court cases in Greater Manchester.
Published data shows the open caseload nationally stood at 76,957 at the end of March this year, up from 74,592 at the end of December 2024. An update for the end of September this year shows it has risen to 79,619 cases across England and Wales.
Between 2019 and 2025 the open Crown Court caseload in Greater Manchester increased markedly from around 2,000 to 4,900 cases. These cases are waiting to be heard at Manchester’s Minshull Street and Crown Square Courts and Bolton Crown Court.
Minshull Street Crown Court in Manchester (Image: Copyright Unknown)
Nationally for the first time more than 20,000 cases have been open for over a year – up from 18,093 cases at the end of March. The average age of open cases increased from around 210 days in 2019 to around 320 days in 2025.
The average time from receipt to completion followed a similar pattern, rising from around 130 days in 2019 to around 280 days in 2025. Violent offences increased from around 160 days in 2019 to around 300 days in 2025. Sexual offences increased from around 200 days in 2019 to around 420 days in 2025.
Minister for Courts and Legal Services, Sarah Sackman KC MP, said: “Victims are being let down by the crisis in our courts. An overwhelming 4,900 cases in Greater Manchester are waiting for justice, with sexual offences cases taking around 420 days to come to trial.
“As brave survivors of these harrowing crimes find the courage to come forward, they deserve a system that works for them – not against them.
“We inherited a justice system on the brink of collapse. We know money alone can’t fix this; only fundamental reform can create and deliver the swift and fair justice victims have been denied for far too long.”
Nationally there was seven per cent increases in cases seen for trial while other cases fell – for sentence (-11%) and appeal cases (-2%).
The largest increases in the open caseload compared to the previous year were seen for sexual offences (18%) and violence against the person (15%) cases. The increases in open caseload volumes can be seen for all regions compared to the previous quarter.
Crimes of violence accounted for 24,703 cases in the backlog; sexual offences, 14,180; drug offences, 10,683; miscellaneous cases, 8,123; theft, 5,567; possession of weapons, 3,380; public order, 3,311; robbery, 2,688; fraud, 1,914; others, 5,070.
The Crown Court backlog has been at a record high since early 2023 and is expected to hit 100,000 by 2028, according to the Ministry of Justice (MoJ). The delays mean that for some serious crimes charged today the victims and suspects could be left waiting years for justice as they are unlikely to see the case come to trial before 2030.
This crisis has prompted the government to announce major reforms including the removal of juries for some cases – a fundamental part of our criminal justice system – from a number of trials in England and Wales in an attempt to speed up justice and slash the backlog.
When the coalition government began making austerity cuts, the MoJ took a bigger hit than some other departments such as health and defence. It delivered some of its cuts by shutting court rooms, and by 2022, eight crown court centres and more than 160 magistrates courts were gone, according to ministerial answers to parliamentary questions.