Written Question·Ministry of Justice·UIN 47355

Trials: Standards

Tabled: 23 April 2025
Answered: 1 May 2025

Question

Dr Kieran Mullan

ConservativeBexhill and Battle

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she is taking to reduce the frequency of ineffective trials that occur as a result of (a) witness and (b) defendant unavailability.

Answer

Sarah Sackman
Official Statistics (Criminal Court Statistics Quarterly) show that in 2024, of the 31,158 trials in the Crown Courts, 665 trials were ineffective due to witness unavailability and 1,637 trials were ineffective due to defendant unavailability. These figur...

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