Overview

• The Crown Court backlog topped 75,000 cases by March 2025, with some hearings listed as far out as 2029, triggering Sir Brian Leveson’s independent review.
• Leveson’s July report models savings of roughly 9,000 sitting days per year by restricting automatic jury trials and diverting minor offences.
• A new Crown Court Bench Division of one judge and two magistrates would hear either-way offences such as fraud, sexual assault and violent disorder.
• Defendants who plead guilty at the earliest stage would receive a 40% discount on their sentence under the proposed plea-bargain enhancements.
• The Bar Council and Law Society warn the reforms could undermine fair trial rights and merely shift pressure onto magistrates’ courts.