New Crown Court data published Thursday 25 September 2025, shows that once again, the backlog of cases in the Crown Court is at an all-time high and continuing to rise
78,329 cases in total are now waiting to be heard in the Crown Court, 13,238 (16%) of which are sexual offence cases.
This means the number of sexual offence cases waiting to go to trial has increased by 40% in the two years since we published Breaking Point, our 2023 report on the re-traumatisation of rape and sexual abuse survivors in the Crown Court's backlog of cases.
4,086 of the cases in the Crown Court backlog are adult rape cases, a 70% increase on the number waiting two years ago, while 1,759 of these cases are child rape cases, a 24% increase on the number from two years ago.
Adult rape survivors now wait, on average, 417 days between an offender being charged and the case being completed in the Crown Court – but we know that many survivors wait even longer.
Survivors deserve justice, not long waiting times
Our Head of Policy and Public Affairs, Maxime Rowson, said:
"Being made to wait years for cases to reach court, having court dates postponed, often multiple times, and being kept in the dark about important updates is having a devastating impact on the lives of supporters.
Some survivors have told us they feel suicidal. Others try to take their own life. This must not go on.
The court system must prioritise victims and survivors of rape and other sexual offences."