Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many trials were abandoned (a) from their start dates and (b) due to a lack of (i) prosecution and (ii) defence advocates in each of the last five years.

Data collated centrally by MOJ does not include a count of ‘abandoned’ trials; instead we collect data on trials that are rescheduled for a future listing (ineffective).

An ineffective trial is a trial that does not go ahead on the scheduled trial date and a further listing is required. This can be due to action or inaction by one or more of the prosecution, the defence or the court.

This data is published as part of the Criminal Court Statistics Quarterly release and the latest data is available to September 2021: Criminal court statistics quarterly: July to September 2021 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

There are a number of reasons why a trial might be ineffective. For example, 16% of ineffective trials in 2021 are caused by either the prosecution or defence not being ready to proceed, and 12% are caused by the prosecution witness being absent.

We continue to work with Criminal Justice System partners to increase compliance with Better Case Management, a set of best practice principles published in 2015, and – in doing so – reduce the ineffective trial rate by ensuring all parties are fully prepared for the trial.