Crown Court
(asked on 10th July 2014) - View Source
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, how many and what proportion of cases at the Crown Court in (a) 2013-14 and (b) each of the previous five financial years were subject to (i) a decision by the prosecution to offer no evidence, (ii) a judge-ordered acquittal, (iii) a judge-directed acquittal and (iv) an acquittal after trial.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) maintains a central record of the outcomes of prosecutions, on a defendant basis, at the Crown Court. Prosecution outcomes comprise convictions; guilty pleas and convictions after trial. Unsuccessful outcomes represent all other outcomes and include judge ordered acquittals (discontinuances, indictment stayed, charges left on file and no evidence offered), judge directed acquittals, acquittals after trial and administrative finalisations.
The table below shows the volume and proportion of defendants as a total of the 13 CPS Areas, where the CPS offered no evidence, where a judge ordered or directed an acquittal and where the defendant was acquitted after trial, in each of the last six years.
2008-2009 | 2009-2010 | 2010-2011 | 2011-2012 | 2012-2013 | 2013-2014 | |
(i) Offer No Evidence | 9,734 | 10,537 | 12,433 | 10,543 | 9,106 | 7,795 |
% Offer No Evidence | 9.4% | 9.6% | 10.6% | 9.8% | 9.5% | 8.3% |
(ii) Judge Ordered Acquittal | 12,198 | 12,930 | 14,958 | 12,527 | 11,099 | 10,714 |
% Judge Ordered Acquittal | 11.7% | 11.7% | 12.8% | 11.7% | 11.6% | 11.5% |
(iii) Judge Directed Acquittal | 990 | 1,048 | 1,101 | 857 | 774 | 620 |
% Judge Directed Acquittal | 1.0% | 1.0% | 0.9% | 0.8% | 0.8% | 0.7% |
(iv) Acquittal After Trial | 5,703 | 6,316 | 6,810 | 6,290 | 5,998 | 5,584 |
% Acquittal After Trial | 5.5% | 5.7% | 5.8% | 5.9% | 6.3% | 6.0% |
TOTAL PROSECUTED | 103,890 | 110,146 | 116,898 | 107,244 | 95,862 | 93,446 |
Data Source: CPS Case Management Information System