Backlog of adult rape cases in courts in England and Wales hits record high | Rape and sexual assault

The backlog of adult rape cases in crown courts in England and Wales has risen to almost four times the level it was in 2019.

There was a record backlog of 2,210 adult rape cases in the first quarter of the year, compared with 576 in the equivalent period four years ago, according to analysis by the Criminal Bar Association (CBA) of official statistics published on Thursday.

The cases are part of a record backlog of sexual offence cases, which stood at 8,741 – almost double the number in the first quarter of 2019 – prompting calls for more investment.

Kirsty Brimelow KC, the CBA’s chair, said: “Sexual offences cases remain a poignant example of the crisis in the criminal justice system. Barristers have left, courts are in disrepair and complainants, witnesses and defendants suffer in a criminal justice system in crisis.

“For the benefit of complainants and vulnerable witnesses, the CBA looks forward to full implementation of spending of the relatively small amounts committed to legal aid increases.”

The figures show that backlogs remain stubbornly high in the crown courts despite the government having previously blamed them on the Covid pandemic and the criminal barristers’ strike, which ended on 10 October last year. The backlog of all cases in the crown courts fell by just 276 from the previous quarter to 62,235.

In the first quarter of the year, 341 sexual offence trials – 31 of them rape trials – were adjourned on the day they were to start for reasons such as a shortage of barristers, judges or “overlisting” of cases. By comparison, in the equivalent period four years ago there were 66 sexual offence trials adjourned on the day they were supposed to start, 15 of them rape trials.

Adult rape cases closed in the first quarter took on average 390 days to conclude after charge, not far off record levels, the CBA found.

Brimelow said a lack of investment in resources was hampering government initiatives aimed at tackling low conviction rates in rape and serious sexual offence (Rasso) cases.

“The shortages of barristers in Rasso cases impacts in particular those requiring pre-recorded evidence before trial – known as section 28 hearings – which are part of a flagship government policy to enable vulnerable witnesses to be cross-examined and recorded before the trial,” she said.

“The rollout of section 28 hearings is in part to prevent complainants in rape cases giving up before the trial eventually comes to court, but it will not succeed if barristers continue not to be properly paid for conducting these hearings.”

The Ministry of Justice has been approached for comment.