NCJ Number
190305
Date Published
October 2000
Length
36 pages
Annotation
This report provides 1999 data on cautions, court proceedings, and sentencing for England and Wales.
Abstract
Findings showed that there were 1,884,000 completed proceedings at magistrates' courts in 1999, 4 percent fewer than in 1998. There were decreases for summary non-motoring offenses and for summary motoring offenses. A total of 97,000 defendants had proceedings completed at the Crown Court, 3 percent fewer than in 1998. Following the introduction of plea before venue from October 1, 1997, the number of defendants committed for sentence to the Crown Court continued to increase, and the number of defendants committed for trial continued to decrease. The transfer of guilty pleas from the Crown Court to magistrates' courts led to a reduced guilty plea rate at the Crown Court (from 63 percent in 1998 to 61 percent in 1999), and there was a corresponding increase in the acquittal rate for defendants tried of 2 percentage points. The proportion of persons convicted after pleading not guilty at the Crown Court also decreased by 2 percentage points to 36 percent in 1999. A total of 266,100 offenders were cautioned for all offenses in 1999, 8 percent fewer than in 1998. The number of offenders found guilty or cautioned (known offenders) for indictable offenses decreased by 4 percent to 513,000. The general pattern in sentencing of indictable offenses changed little between 1998 and 1999, but continued to increase in severity at both courts. Custody rates also increased for summary offenses: 1,000 more persons were sentenced to custody for summary non-motoring offenses, and 1,300 for summary motoring offenses. 5 figures, 13 tables, and 25 notes