§ Mr. LilleyTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many either-way cases heard in magistrates courts have been contested in each year since 1987. [19726]
§ The Solicitor-GeneralI have been asked to respond to this question using information collected by the Crown Prosecution Service.
CPS records show that the number of contested hearings in magistrates courts in either-way cases was as follows:
Year Numbers 19911 32,744 1992 39,170 1993 34,695 1994 33,568 1995 28,942
Contested hearings 1991–2001 19911 % 1992 % 1993 % 1994 % 1995 % 1996 % Magistrates courts Contests (some guilty pleas) 7,892 — 7,463 — 6,321 — 6,505 — 6,060 — 5,249 — of which acquitted 1,131 14.3 786 10.5 653 10.3 676 10.4 644 10.6 544 10.4 Contests (no guilty pleas) 78,175 — 100,518 — 89,990 — 86,519 — 78,343 — 67,563 — of which acquitted 19,854 25.4 24,424 24.3 21,300 23.7 20,644 23.9 18.498 23.6 17,161 25.4 Total contests 86,067 — 107,981 — 96,311 — 93,024 — 84,403 — 72,812 — Total acquittals 20,985 24.4 25,210 23.3 21,953 22.8 21,320 22.9 19,142 22.7 17,705 24.3 Crown court Contests (some guilty pleas) 1,829 — 2,471 — 2,169 — 2,071 — 2,139 — 2,036 — of which acquitted 639 34.9 756 30.6 700 32.3 651 31.4 585 27.3 488 24.0 Contests (no guilty pleas) 13,559 — 18,350 — 17.771 — 16,538 — 19,165 — 18,346 — of which acquitted 6,459 47.6 8,471 46.2 7,920 44.6 7,409 44.8 8,014 41.8 7,709 42.0 Total contests 15,388 — 20,821 — 19,940 — 18,609 — 21,304 — 20,382 — Total acquittals 7,098 46.1 9,227 44.3 8,620 43.2 8,060 43.3 8,599 40.4 8,197 40.2
1186W
1997 % 1998 % 1999 % 2000 % 20012 % Magistrates courts Contests (some guilty pleas) 4,560 — 4,296 — 4,262 — 3,882 — 2,889 — of which acquitted 407 8.9 396 9.2 530 12.4 506 13.0 368 12.7 Contests (no guilty pleas) 66,998 — 62,858 — 57,639 — 52,077 — 37,489 — of which acquitted 17,916 26.7 17,294 27.5 16,263 28.2 16,122 31.0 11,922 31.8 Total contests 71,558 — 67,156 — 61,901 — 55,959 — 40,378 — Total acquittals 18,323 25.6 17,690 26.3 16,793 27.1 16,628 29.7 12,290 30.4
Year Numbers 1996 24,767 1997 25,323 1998 24,439 1999 23,022 2000 21,808 20012 15,432 1 April-December only 2 January-September only Note:
No comparable figures were collected before April 1991.
§ Mr. LilleyTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many(a) wholly and (b) partly-contested cases there were, and how many acquittals there were in each case, for (i) magistrates courts and (ii) Crown courts in each year since 1987. [19727]
§ The Solicitor-GeneralI have been asked to respond to this question using information collected by the Crown Prosecution Service.
The table shows the number of contested hearings in magistrates courts and in the Crown court. These are divided into two categories: hearings in which the defendant entered pleas of guilty to some charges while other charges proceeded to a contest, and hearings in which no guilty pleas were entered. The total number of contests is also shown.
The table also gives both the number and the proportion of acquittals. These are again divided up into those where guilty pleas were entered to some charges, those where no guilty pleas were entered, and the total number of acquittals.
No comparable figures were collected before April 1991.
1187W
1997 % 1998 % 1999 % 2000 % 20012 % Crown court Contests (some guilty pleas) 2,170 — 1,641 — 1,338 — 1,376 — 923 — of which acquitted 424 19.5 411 25.0 344 25.7 304 22.1 190 20.6 Contests (no guilty pleas) 19,813 — 18,874 — 19,116 — 18,099 — 13,134 — of which acquitted 8,293 41.9 8,350 44.2 8,463 44.3 8,214 45.4 5,894 44.9 Total contests 21,983 — 20,515 — 20,454 — 19,477 — 14,057 — Total acquittals 8,717 39.7 8,761 42.7 8,807 43.1 8,518 43.7 6,084 43.3 1 April-December 2 January-September