Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, in what proportion of criminal cases in (a) magistrates courts and (b) crown courts the defendant (i) pleaded guilty without trial and (ii) was acquitted following trial.

In 2014, 18.5% of all defendants tried at the Crown Court were acquitted (15,868 out of a total of 85,943 defendants tried at the Crown Court).

In 2014, 99.5% of defendants who pleaded guilty in the Crown Court did so before a jury trial commenced. The methodology for producing the relevant magistrates data is being developed and I will write to the Honourable Member as soon as it is available. A copy of the letter will be placed in the House Library.