NCJ Number
180618
Date Published
November 1999
Length
35 pages
Annotation
This report provides statistics on cautioning, court proceedings, and sentencing in England and Wales in 1998, together with the equivalent data for the previous 5 years.
Abstract
Magistrates' courts recorded 1,952,000 completed proceedings in 1998, 5 percent more than in 1997. One hundred thousand defendants had proceedings completed in the Crown Court, 3 percent more than in 1997. The introduction of plea before venue in October 1997 led to an increase of 160 percent in the number of defendants committed for sentence to the Crown Court following summary conviction at magistrates' courts. Plea before venue also reduced the guilty plea rate at the Crown Court for indictable offenses from 67 percent in 1997 to 62 percent in 1998. The proportion of persons convicted after pleading not guilty at the Crown Court fell by 4 percentage points to 36 percent in 1998. The 287,900 offenders cautioned for all offenses in 1998 represented a 2- percent increase from 1997. A further 1,700 juveniles received reprimands or final warnings in Crime and Disorder Act pilot areas. The number of offenders found guilty or cautioned for indictable offenses increased by 5 percent in 1998 to 533,500. The proportion of female offenders increased, particularly among juvenile offenders. The use of immediate custody for indictable offenses increased in magistrates courts by 1 percentage point to 11.5 percent, but remained at 61 percent in the Crown Court. Sentencing in 1998 was similar to that in 1997, but the use of custody and community sentences has increased and the use of the discharge and fine has decreased since 1993. Tables, figures, footnotes, and explanation of changes in laws and procedures