Activity in the Criminal Justice System in 2014

We know that crime rates have been falling steadily over the last 20 years but what about other trends in the criminal justice system. The MoJ has just (21 May 2015) published its report on activity in the criminal justice system for 2014.

The findings are very helpfully summarised in the infographic below. Here are some of the headline findings:

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• The total number of individuals dealt with formally by the CJS hit an all time low at 1.73 million.
• However, there was a 2% increase in the number of defendants proceeded against at the magistrates’ courts, driven by rises in summary offences (indictable offences fell).
• The number of offenders convicted and sentenced increased by 3% and there was a small increase in the conviction ratio to 83 from 82 in 2013.
• The average custodial sentence length (ACSL) in 2014 was 15.6 months, an increase of 0.1 months from 2013.
• The number of first time entrants dealt with by the CJS continues to decline and has fallen by 52% since 2007. The reduction has been much sharper for juveniles (81% over the same period) than adults.
• Prosecutions for sexual offences are the highest in the decade and increased by 9% in the latest year.
• Offenders sentenced for sexual offences had an ACSL of 62.0 months, a rise of 2.9 months compared with 2013.

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