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Arrest And Trial (Waiting Times)

Volume 406: debated on Tuesday 3 June 2003

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To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellors Department what the average length of time between the arrest and the trial of a person in courts in the United Kingdom was in the last 12 months. [113355]

Information is not available in the exact form requested and is instead provided from charge or laying of information, for defendants in indictable and triable either-way cases.In 2002, for cases tried in magistrates courts, the average time between charge or laying of information and start of trial was 46 days for England and Wales.In 2002, for those cases tried at the Crown Court, the average time taken for the initial period from charge or laying of information to committal for trial was 56 days for England and Wales. The average time taken from committal to start of trial in the Crown Court was 140 days in 2002 in England and Wales. These figures provide only a broad indication of the total time taken from charge or laying of information to start of trial for defendants who are tried in the Crown Court, as the data from magistrates courts and the Crown Court will not relate to exactly the same defendants.