§ Dr. MurrisonTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what proportion of magistrates court cases were adjourned in each year since 1992(a) in total, (b) through non-attendance of witnesses and (c) through non-attendance of defendants. [68221]
§ Yvette CooperThis information is not available. Data on adjourned cases in magistrates courts were not collected on a national basis (England and Wales) until April of this year. The first quarterly figures will he available later this year. Figures from the pilot scheme which ran for three months in nine magistrates courts committee areas (April to June 2001) show that out of a total of 6,213 trials, 1,176 were logged as adjourned trials. 338 (29 per cent.) of these adjourned trials were caused when the witnesses (prosecution and defence) failed to attend and 260 (22 per cent.) were adjourned due to the non-attendance of the defendants.
§ Dr. MurrisonTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what the estimated cost was of cases adjourned in magistrates courts in each year since 1992. [68222]
§ Yvette CooperThis information is not available. Data on adjourned cases in magistrates courts did not start to be collected on a national basis (England and Wales) until April of this year. This new collection exercise started as a result of the National Audit Office report in December 1999 which identified that over £41 million a year was wasted on cracked and ineffective hearings. Pilot work was then undertaken and a scheme developed with the Crown Prosecution Service and other criminal justice agencies before the full national data collection scheme started in April 2002. The first quarterly figures are due to be available later this year.