Magistrates' Courts Waiting Times on the Day and User Reaction Surveys, 2001

• NCJ Number: 195348
• Author(s): Paul Sturniolo
• Date Published: March 2002
• Length: 24 pages
• Sale Source: Great Britain Lord Chancellor's Dept
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United Kingdom
• Note: Statistics on Magistrates' Courts Information Bulletin Issue 1/2002

Annotation

These surveys measure the time adult defendants in criminal cases wait on the days of their hearings, and the satisfaction of court users with non-judicial aspects of the service received.

Abstract

The surveys were conducted in magistrates’ courts in England and Wales twice, in April and October 2000. Results showed that the average time defendants had to wait at court before the start of hearings was 66 minutes in both April and October 2001, a decrease from 71 minutes in October 2000. Thirty-nine percent of defendants waited more than 1 hour in both April and October 2001 compared to 42 percent in October 2000. The proportion of defendants reporting at or after 11 a.m. remained at 33 percent in April and October 2001. Average waiting times tended to be lower in areas making more use of block listing. The proportion of court users reporting that the quality of facilities provided at the courts were satisfactory or very good remained at 71 percent in April and October 2001. Ninety percent of respondents reported that the quality of information and assistance was satisfactory or very good in October 2001 compared with 89 percent in October 2000 and April 2001. 7 figures, 12 tables