To ask the Solicitor-General in how many and what percentage of cases (a) a guilty plea was registered and (b) a conviction resulted in (i) Crown Courts and (ii) magistrates courts in each of the last 10 years; and if she will make a statement. (230588)

The following tables show, for each of the last 10 years, the number of defendants whose case was completed in magistrates courts and in the Crown court, together with the number and proportion which resulted in a conviction and in an unsuccessful outcome.

Convictions are divided into those cases in which the defendant pleaded guilty, and those convicted after trial. Additionally, convictions in magistrates courts include those proceedings, mostly minor motoring matters, which were proved in the absence of the defendant. Unsuccessful outcomes comprise all outcomes other than a conviction.

Against a background of falling crime, and hence of falling case loads, convictions in magistrates courts rose from. 76.8 per cent. of completed cases in 1998-99 to 85.7 per cent. in 2007-08. In the Crown court, convictions rose over the same period from 77.8 per cent. to 79.3 per cent. These figures illustrate the growing success of the CPS in ensuring that offenders are brought to justice. In particular, the decisive trend towards rising conviction rates over the last five years underlines the positive benefits of Statutory Charging, under which the CPS is responsible for determining the charges in all more serious, complex, and contested cases, particularly those in which the liberty of the individual is at risk.