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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Guardian staff

Will new court proposals for England and Wales solve record-high backlog of cases?

Crown court symbol outside Southwark crown court
Crown courts in England and Wales faced a record-high backlog of 73,105 criminal cases at the end of September. Photograph: Anadolu/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Over the past week, the Guardian’s Courts in crisis series has laid bare the scale of dysfunction in the legal system in England and Wales.

Barristers and judges overworked. Devastated victims dropping out of prosecutions after being pushed to the edge by torturous waits. Prisons busting at the seams, with some inmates spending up to five years behind bars before they have been found guilty of any crime.

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