The number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts, heard at magistrates courts and committed for trial at crown court, for all offences in England and Wales, 1997 to 2007 can be viewed in the following table.
These data are on the principal offence basis. The figures given in the table on court proceedings relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offence for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences, the offence selected is the one for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.
Court proceedings data for 2008 will be available in the autumn of 2009.
Of which: Proceeded against at magistrates courts Heard at magistrates courts Committed for trial at crown court 1997 1,855,333 1,767,654 87,679 1998 1,951,915 1,878,537 73,378 1999 1,881,765 1,809,475 72,290 2000 1,904,677 1,834,437 70,240 2001 1,837,733 1,758,564 79,169 2002 1,924,828 1,842,003 82,825 2003 2,000,822 1,919,227 81,595 2004 2,022,604 1,944,195 78,409 2005 1,895,002 1,814,128 80,874 2006 1,779,307 1,699,839 79,468 2007 1,732,506 1,648,071 84,435 1 These data are on the principal offence basis. 2 Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts, and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. 3 All cases are initially proceeded against (i.e. prosecuted) at magistrates courts, where the majority are then heard. Other more serious cases are committed for trial at the crown court. 4 Includes proceeding discontinued, discharged, withdrawn, dismissed, and found guilty at the magistrates courts. Source: OCJR-E and A: Office for Criminal Justice Reform—Evidence and Analysis' Unit, Ministry of Justice—Our ref: PQ 268866 (Table)