Crown Court: Standards

The Government inherited a justice system in crisis - with a record Crown Court caseload and victims facing intolerable delays for justice. That is why the Government asked Sir Brian Leveson to undertake an Independent Review of the Criminal Courts and make recommendations for how to restore stability and confidence in the criminal courts.

Sir Brian’s report set out a blueprint for pragmatic structural reform in our criminal courts and made clear that it is only by pulling every lever we have – investment, efficiency and reform – that we can we turn the tide on the backlog and begin to swifter justice for all. The Courts and Tribunals Bill is the first step to putting the reform blueprint into law.

We are currently considering Sir Brian’s remaining recommendations and will publish our full response in due course. In the meantime, the Deputy Prime Minister has already announced several initial measures we are taking forward to drive efficiency, including supporting the judiciary to undertake ‘blitz courts’ (where courts list similar cases together over a short period of time – concentrating court resources and the expertise required), rolling out case coordinators in every Crown Court centre and supporting the Lady Chief Justice to publish the first ever National Listing Framework. We are exploring the use of new AI technologies, including supporting the judiciary to pilot a new listing assistant, to improve the efficiency of how cases are scheduled.

Alongside structural reforms and inefficiencies, we are also delivering record financial investment. We have uncapped Crown Court sitting days for 2026/27, which means there is no longer a financial limit on the amount of work the Crown Court can undertake; we have announced additional funding of up to £34 million a year for criminal legal aid advocates, and we recently laid a statutory instrument to invest £3.5 million of this funding in preparatory fees. This is in addition to the significant uplifts to criminal legal aid solicitor fees this Government has already implemented - which will be worth around an additional £116 million per year once in steady state.