HC Deb 14 February 1977 vol 926 c24W
Mr. Greville Janner

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much he estimates to be the average cost per hour of a jury trial in a Crown Court and of a summary trial in a magistrates' court, respectively; and how he arrives at such an estimate.

Mr. John

I regret that the information which would be necessary for a reliable estimate is not available. Comparative costs of selected cases were shown in Appendix F to the Report of the Inter-departmental Committee on the Distribution of Criminal Business between the Crown Court and Magistrates' Courts (Cmnd. 6323). The average cost of these selected cases when tried on indictment was £431.39, and the average estimates cost of trying them summarily was £136.44.