Criminal backlog

Law Society president I. Stephanie Boyce said the latest criminal court backlog figures show the backlog is decreasing “at a glacial pace”. Figures for March showed 364,465 outstanding cases in the magistrates’ courts and 57,838 in the Crown Court – down 513 cases on the previous month. Boyce said unless the government implemented the recommended minimum 15 per cent increase in criminal legal aid fees, “backlogs will inevitably endure, solicitors will continue to leave the profession in droves, and we will no longer have a criminal justice system worthy of the name.”