THE Crown Court backlog in England and Wales has risen to a new record high, passing 75,000 outstanding cases for the first time.

Official figures released today show a caseload of 76,957 at the end of March 2025, up from 74,592 at the end of December and 69,021 a year earlier — a rise of 11 per cent.

Ministry of Justice data also reveals that 18,093 of those cases had been open for more than a year, the highest number since modern records began.

Violence against the person, sexual offences and drug-related crimes made up the largest proportion of the backlog, with 23,803, 12,532 and 10,775 open cases respectively.

Courts and legal services minister Sarah Sackman KC warned the backlog is growing so rapidly that it could reach 100,000 cases before 2028, a year earlier than previous estimates.

She said only radical reform would address the crisis and recommendations from the long-awaited Leveson review would be published soon.

The review, led by former senior judge Sir Brian Leveson, is expected to propose sweeping changes to the justice system.

The government has already agreed to implement a raft of reforms from a previous review by former justice secretary David Gauke on jail overcrowding.

But Criminal Bar Association chairwoman Mary Prior KC said ministers must open up closed crown court rooms to allow delayed cases to be heard, adding: “Whatever the radical reforms suggested in ongoing reviews, implementation will take at least another year.

“The traumatised people in the long queue for justice may well have walked away by then, unheard and unseen.”

Law Society of England and Wales president Richard Atkinson said: “Sufficient funding of our courts and those who work within them could free them from the legal limbo caused by long waits.”