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The criminal justice system in England and Wales is failing victims and witnesses and is close to
"breaking point", MPs have warned.
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said the system was "bedevilled by long-standing poor
performance, including delays and inefficiencies".
The committee's report also local seo uk warned that cutbacks were affecting the ability of courts to
deliver justice.
The Ministry of Justice said it would "reflect on the recommendations".
'Damning statistics'
The PAC found that about two-thirds of trials in crown courts were delayed or did not go ahead at
all.
There was a backlog of 51,830 cases awaiting a hearing as of September last year, it said, with an
average 134-day wait between cases leaving magistrates' courts and the start of crown court
proceedings.
Image copyright Getty Images Image caption The number of Crown Prosecution Service lawyers has
dropped by 27% since 2010
Victims of crime had a seven-in-10 chance of a crown court trial going ahead in North Wales but only
a two-in-10 chance in Greater Manchester, official data showed.
The length of time victims were made to wait between an offence being committed and the
conclusion of their case ranged from 243 days in Durham to 418 days in Sussex.
Figures also showed that government spending on the criminal justice system had fallen by 26%,
while the number of Crown Prosecution Service lawyers had dropped by 27%, since 2010.
The committee warned that the Ministry of Justice had "exhausted the scope to cut costs without
pushing the system beyond breaking point".
It recommended "rapid and significant" improvements in service to victims and witnesses.
A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: "The justice secretary has been clear that our criminal justice
system needs urgent reform.
"That is why we have embarked on comprehensive measures to improve our prisons and courts,
backed by over 2bn of investment, to build a swifter, more certain justice system."
One abandoned trial
By Danny Shaw, BBC home affairs correspondent
The trial at Hove Crown Court was well into its fifth week. The six defendants were accused of a plot
to supply Class A drugs. However, midway through defence evidence for one of the alleged
conspirators, the lead prosecutor, who was pregnant, went into premature labour.
Her "junior" prosecuting partner was ready to step in - that's what's supposed to happen. But the
trial, which began in April, was already over-running badly and most of the jurors said they couldn't
continue beyond the scheduled timescale, so the judge decided to abandon it.
The Court Service blamed a "variety" of problems for the delays, including extended legal argument,
a shortage of dock officers, jurors being ill, jurors arriving late as a result of rail strikes and lawyers
requesting time to examine additional evidence which had been delivered late.
Some of the issues were clearly unavoidable. Others perhaps not. However, the result is that
hundreds of thousands of pounds have been wasted in legal fees, courtroom costs and police time.
And the six defendants, some of whom are in custody, their families and witnesses will have to wait
eight more months until there's a retrial.
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