Criminal cases in Northern Ireland took nearly a third longer during Covid-19 pandemic

New statistics show that the average time taken for a case to be dealt with across all courts rose by 29.5 per cent last year and stood at the highest level in five years.

In the Crown Court, the average time was 470 days for a charge case, up by 14.6 per cent on the previous year, and 939 days for a summons case, up 9.1 per cent on the previous year.

The largest percentage increases were in the adult magistrates’ courts, where the average time for a charge case to be dealt with was 122 days, up 69.4 per cent on the previous year. The average time for a summons case was 212 days, up 19.1 per cent.

In the youth magistrates’ courts, the average time for a charge case was 187 days, up 59.8 per cent, and 326 days for a summons case, up 34.7 per cent.

The average time taken to complete cases where the main offence was a motoring one was 153 days. The comparative figure for sexual offences was 581 days.

The Department of Justice said: “Prior to the pandemic, the time taken for cases to be completed had been showing a general improvement. The pandemic however, has impacted on both the levels of court business which could be conducted and on other parts of the justice system, including on the issue of summons.

“This has meant that, for a large part of 2020/21, cases were not able to proceed through the system at a rate they might otherwise have done.”