Criminal Justice Statistics for England and Wales March 2014

The Criminal Justice Statistics quarterly update to March 2014 have recently been released and here are the key findings:

Total number of individuals (which includes people and companies) dealt with formally by the CJS in England and Wales has been declining since 2007. It is now at a record low level (period 1970 onwards), with 1.73 million individuals dealt with in the latest 12 month period
Use of out of court disposals has decreased in the last year by 13%, down to 318,500 in the latest 12 month period. This continues the pattern of decline (52% decrease since year ending March 2008 peak)
In the latest 12 month period 1.41 million defendants were proceeded against, a 4% decrease compared to the previous year. Over the last 10 years the number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates’ court has declined almost year on year
Conviction ratio has remained relatively steady since year ending March 2009 (following on from an increase in the 5 years preceding this). In the latest 12 month period it was 82%
Custody rate for indictable offences (27%) is the highest in the decade and has increased in each of the last three years
Average custodial sentence length (ACSL) has increased over the last decade, particularly in the last year – up to 15.5 months in the latest 12 month period
Number and proportion of convicted offenders who have long criminal histories has increased over the last 10 years, whereas the number of new entrants to the criminal justice system has fallen

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