81,000 cases waiting, and a change of course on who decides them
What happened
On 4 October 2026, the Ministry of Justice announced a change of course on how criminal courts in England and Wales will be reformed. The headline decision is that plans for some serious criminal trials to be heard by a judge alone, without a jury, have been scrapped. Serious cases in the Crown Court will continue to be heard in front of a jury. The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, Alex Norris, said: 'This government inherited criminal courts on the brink of collapse, with victims waiting years for their day in court.' He went on: 'But I have heard the strength of feeling on the proposals for increasing the number of judge-alone trials in the Crown Court and have made the decision to change course.' The rest of the reform package is being pushed through faster instead. The announced changes include: - Magistrates will be given the power to hand out longer sentences, so more cases can be dealt with at that level. - Technical and lengthy fraud and financial offences will be allowed to be heard by a judge alone. The reasoning given is that months-long complex trials place a heavy personal and financial burden on jurors. - Courts, rather than defendants, will have the final say over where a case is heard. The government says this prevents people accused of relatively minor crimes electing a jury trial to try to avoid prison. - Millions will be invested in new technology to modernise courts. - Judges will be given more resources to hear more cases. These changes will be made to the Courts and Tribunals Bill, which returns to the House of Commons on 13 October. When it returns, the government will also make a statutory commitment to consider any impacts of the structural reforms on ethnic minorities and people of different backgrounds, led by an independent reviewer. The Minister for Courts and Legal Services, Sarah Sackman KC, pointed to further efficiency work: 'Whether that is using AI to support the listing of cases, rolling out further virtual hearings, or taking steps to ensure defendants arrive to court on time, we will turn the tide.' The government will publish its full response to both parts of Lord Leveson's review of the criminal courts in the coming weeks.
Why this matters
The number underneath all of this is the one worth remembering. Nearly 81,000 cases are waiting to be heard in the Crown Court. Almost a third of them have been waiting for a year or more. That is not an administrative statistic. Behind each case is a person waiting - a victim waiting to give evidence, a witness whose memory is fading, a defendant who has not yet been tried, and families on both sides whose lives are on hold. A delay of a year or more changes outcomes. Witnesses move away or withdraw. Some victims decide they cannot face it any more and the case collapses. Evidence degrades. The phrase quoted by both ministers - 'justice delayed is justice denied' - is a cliché because it is true. The jury question matters for a different reason. Trial by jury is one of the few parts of the legal system that ordinary people are directly part of. Twelve members of the public, not legal professionals, decide whether someone is guilty. Proposals to reduce that drew strong opposition from across the legal profession, and this announcement is the government responding to that. The third thing worth noticing is the commitment on equality impacts. Reform of who decides cases, and where, can affect different groups of people differently. Committing in law to have an independent reviewer examine that is a meaningful addition, because it means the question gets asked whether or not it is politically convenient.
What the evidence actually says
Some careful separation is useful here. **The backlog figure is solid.** 'Nearly 81,000' cases, with almost a third waiting a year or more, is drawn from recently published criminal court statistics, which confirmed a record high. Ministry of Justice criminal court statistics are published quarterly and are accredited official statistics. **What this announcement is.** It is a statement of intent about amendments to a Bill that has not yet completed its passage through Parliament. The Bill returns to the Commons on 13 October. Nothing described here is law today, and Parliament can change it. **What it does not claim.** There is no figure attached to how much the backlog will fall, or by when. There is no stated amount for the technology investment beyond 'millions'. The release is explicit that no single measure can fix the problem: 'No single measure can fix years of underinvestment and decades where the system has not kept up with the pace of change.' That is unusually candid, and it is accurate. **The judge-alone point is narrower than the headline.** Judge-alone trials have not been ruled out entirely. They are being dropped for serious Crown Court cases generally, but they are being allowed for technical and lengthy fraud and financial offences. Both things are true at once. **On magistrates' sentencing powers.** Raising them moves cases out of the Crown Court and into the magistrates' court, which is faster. The trade-off is that magistrates' courts do not use juries. So this measure reduces jury trials in practice, even while jury trial is being protected in principle for serious cases. That tension is worth noticing rather than glossing over. **On the AI reference.** Using AI to support the listing of cases means scheduling, not deciding. Nothing in this announcement suggests AI making decisions about guilt or sentence.
Practical advice
**If you are a victim or witness in a case that is waiting:** you are entitled to support, and it is independent of the police and courts. The Victims' Commissioner's office and Victim Support (0808 16 89 111, free, 24 hours) can help you understand timescales and chase information. You can also ask the Witness Care Unit handling your case for an update; you do not have to wait to be told. **Know about the Victims' Code.** It sets out what you are entitled to at every stage, including the right to be told about significant developments and the right to ask for a review if a case is dropped. It is published on gov.uk. **If a trial date has been moved, ask why and ask what happens next.** Dates do move, often more than once. Having it explained is reasonable and reduces the sense of being left in the dark. **If you are called for jury service, the summons is compulsory.** You can apply to defer once in a 12-month period if the date is impossible, and you can claim for loss of earnings, travel and food. If a long trial would cause you real financial hardship, say so at the start rather than part-way through. **If you are following this as a citizen:** the Courts and Tribunals Bill returns to the Commons on 13 October, and the government's full response to Lord Leveson's review is due in the coming weeks. Both will be published openly. Writing to your MP before a Bill returns to the Commons is more useful than writing afterwards.
What to know
On 4 October 2026 the Ministry of Justice announced that plans for judge-alone trials in serious Crown Court cases have been scrapped. Juries will continue to hear those cases. In their place, other reforms are being fast-tracked: longer sentencing powers for magistrates, judge-alone trials for technical and lengthy fraud and financial cases, courts rather than defendants deciding where cases are heard, millions for court technology, and more resources for judges. The changes go into the Courts and Tribunals Bill, which returns to the Commons on 13 October. A statutory commitment will be added to have an independent reviewer consider the impact of the structural reforms on ethnic minorities and people of different backgrounds. The reason any of this is happening: nearly 81,000 cases are waiting in the Crown Court, almost a third of them for over a year. None of it is law yet. The government's full response to Lord Leveson's review is still to come. If you are a victim or witness waiting on a case, you do not have to wait quietly. Victim Support is free on 0808 16 89 111, and the Victims' Code sets out what you are entitled to. Sources: Ministry of Justice, 'Justice reforms to be rolled out faster as Justice Secretary sets out changes to Courts Bill', 4 October 2026, https://www.gov.uk/government/news/justice-reforms-to-be-rolled-out-faster-as-justice-secretary-sets-out-changes-to-courts-bill ; Ministry of Justice, 'Independent review of the criminal courts', accessed 4 October 2026, https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/independent-review-of-the-criminal-courts ; Ministry of Justice, 'Criminal court statistics', accessed 4 October 2026, https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/criminal-court-statistics This article is for general information and is not legal advice. If you need advice about a specific case, speak to a solicitor, Citizens Advice, or the support organisations named above. Nothing in this article is medical advice, and it does not replace advice from a doctor, pharmacist or other qualified healthcare professional.
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