§ Mrs. CurrieTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how long on average elapses between the date of an offence and the date of(a) arraignments and (b) conclusion of case at High Court for the main categories of serious crime in each area for which statistics are collated. [20347]
§ Mr. Jonathan EvansI have been asked to reply. The question concerns a specific operational matter on which the chief executive of the Court Service is best placed to provide an answer. I have accordingly asked the chief executive to reply direct.
Letter from M. D. Huebner to Mrs. EdWina Currie, dated 18 March 1996:
The Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department has asked me to reply to your Question about the duration of criminal proceedings. In preparing the reply I have liaised with colleagues at the Lord Chancellor's Department who are responsible for proceedings in the magistrates courts.The average period between the date on which more serious (indictable) offences takes place and the committal of the defendant to the Crown Court is 23.9 weeks. Arraignment usually takes place at a 'Plea and Directions' hearing normally held within four weeks after committal for defendants who are in custody and six weeks in bail cases. The average period between the case being committed from the magistrates and the start of the trial is 12.4 weeks for defendants in custody and 17.0 weeks for defendants on bail. The average length of a criminal hearing is 8.6 hours for those defendants who plead not guilty and 1.0 hour for whose plead guilty.