§ Mr. Bestasked the Attorney-General if he will give the current rates of conviction and acquittal after a plea of not guilty in (a) the Crown court and (b) magistrates' courts.
The Solicitor-GeneralDuring 1980 the percentage of defendants acquitted in the Crown court after pleading not guilty to all counts was 50 per cent. I understand that the corresponding figure for magistrates' courts is not available. The figures for the Crown court vary114W significantly from circuit to circuit, and the national average given above for England and Wales may therefore be misleading.