London courts have fastest growing case backlog

London has the fastest growing backlog of court cases in England and Wales, with some victims waiting years to get justice.

Nearly 19,000 criminal cases are outstanding in the capital, figures given exclusively to the BBC’s Politics London programme by the Criminal Bar Association (CBA) show. The courts backlog in London rose by 24% in the 12 months to September 2025, the fastest of anywhere in both nations.

One complainant said such delays “take over your life” and a women’s charity said cases were being dropped as a result. Criminal lawyers have blamed long-term underfunding of the courts system by the government.

Courts Minister Sarah Sackman has acknowledged the impact delays have on victims and said the government was “gripping the crisis” with reforms proposed to speed up the justice system.

‘You cannot focus’

One woman, who asked to remain anonymous, said she experienced sustained domestic abuse from her former partner over a period of 23 years, including repeated physical violence.

He was sentenced to weeks in prison three years ago for assaulting her son, before later returning to prison again.

The woman said there had been several court cases that spanned nearly a decade, with the longest taking a year to be heard.

“In that 12 months, you cannot focus on your life. This takes over your life, especially when it involves children as well,” she said.

“It makes you feel worthless.”

She added: “The toll on your mental health is exhausting. It’s exasperating. It drains you from living any quality of life.”

The Woman’s Trust, which provides specialist mental health support for women affected by domestic abuse, said long court delays were discouraging some victims from continuing with cases, even though charges had been brought.

Sona Barbosa, a therapist with the charity, said: “You have some women not going through with it because of how they’ve been treated through the courts, but also because it just takes this long time and then the perpetrator wins.”

She said all women going through the court process should be automatically offered emotional and therapeutic support throughout their case.

At the moment, only complainants who allege a sexual offence are offered support.

Barbosa wants this to be extended to all domestic abuse complainants, even if no sexual offence charges are made.

The CBA said the backlog in London had previously been improving but had begun increasing again since Labour came to power.

It added that national backlog across England and Wales rose by 9% over 12 months to September 2025 to 78,619.

It blamed factors including caps on sitting days and a decision to use London courts to hear cases from elsewhere.

Delays are also affecting family courts.

A lack of district judges and social workers is contributing to delays in family courts, with particularly poor performance in London and the south east.

Jason Lartey, president of the London Criminal Courts Solicitors Association, said the backlog was the result of long-term underfunding by the government.

He said shortages affected everything from defence practitioners to court buildings, interpreters and prisoner transport services.

“Day-to-day, we’re finding attendances at court where you’d arrive at 9:30am and be waiting for your defendants, and they’re not arriving until 2pm,” he said.

Lartey said outsourcing to the cheapest providers, for services such as prison transfers, rather than the most efficient was contributing to delays.

He also said cuts to legal aid had driven solicitors and barristers out of the profession.

The number of firms providing legal aid had dropped from 1,200 to 1,000 since 2012, Lartey added.

Sackman said there had been long-term underfunding by the previous Conservative government and that reforms are being examined to reduce the backlog.

“The mental torture that victims are living with as they wait for their day in court is all too real,” she said.

She said £450m had been committed to courts, legal aid had been increased for criminal solicitors and £34m had been allocated for advocates.

She also said Sir Brian Leveson had been asked to produce a blueprint for court reform to reduce the backlog.

However, Lartey criticised proposals to restrict jury trials for some offences, arguing they would remove fundamental rights.

“You’re taking away people’s everyday rights,” he said. “This country is built on having the right to be tried by your peers.”

Sackman said the government was not scrapping jury trials and said they would remain for the most serious crimes.

She said: “What’s not fair is what’s happening right now. The waiting lists mean that there are too many people that are gaming the system or walking away altogether.”

Andrew Rosindell, who defected to Reform UK from the Conservatives last week, said both Labour and his former party had failed to deal with court delays.

He said a Reform government would reopen courts, adding that “justice delayed is justice denied”.

Sackman said Harrow Crown Court was due to reopen in April and that courts were being modernised to deliver swifter justice.

When asked whether she would still advise victims to report crimes despite the delays, she said: “Of course I would, for their own sake and for the safety of our community.”

But she added: “I’m not sugarcoating this at all. Right now in London, there are victims of crime who are being told that their trial date won’t be heard until 2029 and 2030.”