Case Processing Time for Criminal Cases dealt with at Courts in Northern Ireland 2019/20 published today

The Department of Justice (DoJ) today published a Research and Statistical Bulletin on ‘Case Processing Time for Criminal Cases dealt with at Courts in Northern Ireland 2019/20’. It is an Official Statistics Publication.

This bulletin presents data on the average^[1] Case Processing Time for Criminal Cases dealt with in the Crown and magistrates’ courts in Northern Ireland for the year 1 April 2019 – 31 March 2020 and refers to the time from which the offence was reported to, or detected by, the police.

Summary

In general, the overall picture is that the time taken for cases to be completed has shown an improvement from that recorded in recent years.  While change in time taken for the completion of charge cases in relation to 2019/20 varied according to court type, the decrease in processing times for cases dealt with by way of summons showed a consistent improvement for all court types. 

All Courts

In 2019/20, the median time taken for a case to be dealt with, at all courts, was 149 days.  This is a decrease of 10.8% from the previous year (167 days) and is the second lowest figure recorded in the last five years, though higher than the figure of 143 days recorded in 2014/15, the baseline year for this indicator under the draft Programme for Government. 
 

Crown Court cases

• In 2019/20, the median time taken for a case to be dealt with at court, in relation to charge cases dealt with at Crown Court, was 410 days.  This is a decrease of 1.4% from the median of 416 days taken in the previous year. 
• In 2019/20, the median time taken for a case to be dealt with at court, in relation to summons cases dealt with at Crown Court, was 861 days.  This is a decrease of 0.6% from the median of 866 days taken in the previous year.

Adult Magistrates’ Courts

• In 2019/20, the median time taken for a case to be dealt with at court, in relation to charge cases dealt with at adult magistrates’ courts, was 72 days.  This is an increase of 2.9% from the median of 70 days taken in 2018/19. 
• In 2019/20, the median time taken for a case to be dealt with at court, in relation to summons cases dealt with at adult magistrates’ courts, was 178 days. This is a decrease of 11.4% from the median of 201 days taken in 2018/19.

Youth Magistrates’ Courts

• In 2019/20, the median time taken for a case to be dealt with at court, in relation to charge cases dealt with at youth magistrates’ courts, was 117 days.  This is an increase of 2.6% from the median of 114 days taken in 2018/19. 
• In 2019/20, the median time taken for a case to be dealt with at court, in relation to summons cases dealt with at youth magistrates’ courts, was 242 days. This is a decrease of 8.7% from the median of 265 days taken in 2018/19.

Processing times by Offence Category

• In 2019/20, the median time taken to complete cases where the main offence was a motoring one was 119 days, compared to a median time of 698 days taken for cases where the main offence was in the sexual offences category.

Notes to editors: 

Notes for Editors

This bulletin presents data on the average Case Processing Time for Criminal Cases dealt with in the Crown and magistrates’ courts in Northern Ireland for the year 1 April 2019 – 31 March 2020.  The intention of the publication is to show the impact on performance over time of key ‘speeding up justice’ initiatives put in place through law reform and through administrative and practice improvements.  It aims to provide an overview of the time taken for a case to be disposed at court from the date that case began its journey through the criminal justice system, based on a start point of the date the offence was reported to, or detected by, the PSNI.  Analysis is also provided in relation to case type, i.e., whether it was a charge or summons case, and in relation to the type of court in which the case was disposed, i.e., Crown Court, adult magistrates’ courts or youth magistrates’ courts. Findings for the 2019/20 year have been compared with those for cases disposed in the previous four years.

The data used in this bulletin were taken from the Causeway Data Sharing Mechanism (DSM1). Causeway is an interconnected information system, launched as a joint undertaking by the Criminal Justice Organisations (CJOs) in Northern Ireland.

The figures reported in this bulletin, relate to cases disposed at court in the year specified, where the case was prosecuted by the Public Prosecution Service on behalf of PSNI, Harbour Police, Airport Constabulary or the National Crime Agency.    Cases disposed of through an out of court disposal, or which do not reach the end of the full court process, do not go through the standard stages of the court system and, as such, are not directly comparable with cases that have gone through the judicial system. Similarly, cases relating to breaches of court orders previously imposed are not included in the dataset, as they relate to a previous offence and have not proceeded through the various stages in the criminal justice process in the same way that cases relating to other offences may have.  They have therefore not been included in the figures reported.

Official Statistics are produced in accordance with the Code of Practice for Statistics.  They undergo regular quality assurance reviews to ensure that they meet customer needs and are produced free from any political interference.  They are also subject to restrictions in terms of pre-release access. 

The bulletin will be available in PDF format from either the DoJ statistic and research section or alternatively by contacting web-site Analytical Services Group, Financial Services Division, Block B, Castle Buildings, Stormont Estate, Upper Newtownards Road, Belfast BT4 3SG

Email: statistics.research@justice-ni.x.gsi.gov.uk

Media enquiries should be directed to the Department of Justice Press Office via email at press.office@justice-ni.x.gsi.gov.uk

The Executive Information Service operates an out of hours’ service for media enquiries between 1800hrs and 0800hrs Monday to Friday and at weekends and public holidays. The duty press officer can be contacted out of hours on 028 9037 8110.

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