Magistrates' Courts Waiting Times on the Day and User Reaction Surveys, 2000

• NCJ Number: 196156
• Author(s): Aidan Mews; Jo Peacock
• Date Published: March 2001
• Length: 24 pages
• Sale Source: Great Britain Lord Chancellor's Dept
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United Kingdom
• Note: Statistics on Magistrates' Courts Information Bulletin Issue 1/2001

Annotation

Surveying defendants in criminal courts in England and Wales, this report discusses defendants’ satisfaction with hearing wait times and other non-judicial aspects of their appearance in magistrates’ courts.

Abstract

Magistrates’ courts in England and Wales typically conduct annual service surveys to measure the satisfaction levels of adult defendants of criminal cases concerning the amount of time they have to wait on the days of their hearing, and other non-judicial aspects of their appearance in court. This report presents the results of surveys from the year 2000, conducted twice in one year, for the first time. Criminal case defendant survey results indicate that the average amount of time defendants waited at course before the start of their hearings was 71 minutes, a figure which demonstrates that wait times are on the rise. Court user’s overall satisfaction remained unchanged, however, with 71 percent of respondents indicating that court services were satisfactory or very good. Detailed waiting times and user reaction survey results, including tables which present results by region, follow a brief presentation of these findings.