§ Mr. Corbettasked the Attorney-General what is the average length of time between a prisoner applying for leave to appeal and the decision being given by a judge on such applications; and what was the average time taken in making such decisions for each year since 1978.
§ The Attorney-GeneralInformation is not available in the form requested. The time interval varies from case to case and depends on such factors as the the length and complexity of the trial, the number of defendants, the length of sentence, whether the appeal was against conviction sentence or both, and whether or not the application was pursued to the full court. The total number of cases outstanding in the Court of Appeal, criminal division has, however, decreased from 3,333 at the end of 1983 to 2,545 at the end of 1984.