Court Guide · Sources checked 13 September 2026 · England and Wales · national court proceedings
Court proceedings use their own counting rules, including principal-offence rules where specified. Counts of defendants, convictions and sentences are not interchangeable.
Criminal justice system overview
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| Measure | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Out of court disposals (OOCDs) · 328,448 · 286,601 · 246,355 · 220,200 · 209,217 · 226,370 | 204,345 | 206,496 | 201,584 | 212,103 | 226,318 |
| OOCDs: penalty notices for disorder · 47,432 · 36,164 · 26,014 · 21,265 · 19,945 · 15,952 | 13,689 | 10,020 | 7,220 | 4,522 | 3,858 |
| OOCDs: cautions · 125,629 · 102,939 · 83,657 · 69,070 · 64,658 · 55,676 | 49,541 | 48,510 | 44,236 | 43,154 | 40,679 |
| OOCDs: cannabis / khat warnings · 37,930 · 34,398 · 31,965 · 23,958 · 19,472 · 17,158 | 10,332 | 4,480 | 2,397 | 755 | 80 |
| OOCDs: community resolutions · 117,457 · 113,100 · 104,719 · 105,907 · 105,142 · 137,584 | 130,783 | 143,486 | 147,731 | 163,672 | 181,701 |
| Defendants proceeded against total · 1,490,235 · 1,457,607 · 1,367,898 · 1,356,132 · 1,350,451 · 935,697 | 1,066,909 | 1,168,418 | 1,249,352 | 1,329,311 | 1,363,454 |
| Defendants proceeded against: indictable offences · 322,890 · 291,778 · 263,550 · 234,183 · 236,830 · 200,323 | 202,988 | 201,017 | 224,462 | 258,828 | 282,507 |
| Defendants proceeded against: summary offences · 1,167,345 · 1,165,829 · 1,104,348 · 1,121,949 · 1,113,621 · 735,374 | 863,921 | 967,401 | 1,024,890 | 1,070,483 | 1,080,947 |
| Defendants proceeded against: offences unknown · 0 · 0 · 0 · 0 · 0 · 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Offenders convicted total · 1,247,274 · 1,241,589 · 1,213,804 · 1,207,614 · 1,195,280 · 820,836 | 951,351 | 1,046,874 | 1,116,329 | 1,184,815 | 1,199,896 |
| Offenders convicted: indictable offences · 266,028 · 245,156 · 237,143 · 212,268 · 207,976 · 161,924 | 176,556 | 172,584 | 193,459 | 217,162 | 234,171 |
| Offenders convicted: summary offences · 981,246 · 996,433 · 976,661 · 995,346 · 987,304 · 658,912 | 774,795 | 874,290 | 922,870 | 967,653 | 965,725 |
| Offenders convicted: offences unknown · 0 · 0 · 0 · 0 · 0 · 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Offenders sentenced total · 1,245,103 · 1,239,337 · 1,215,632 · 1,209,265 · 1,196,291 · 820,756 | 953,776 | 1,048,173 | 1,115,395 | 1,184,201 | 1,200,478 |
| Offenders sentenced: immediate custody · 90,095 · 89,740 · 91,375 · 83,677 · 77,167 · 60,862 | 64,132 | 65,039 | 72,369 | 80,645 | 88,091 |
| Offenders sentenced: suspended sentence · 57,068 · 56,399 · 56,042 · 44,605 · 40,489 · 36,186 | 43,461 | 41,172 | 44,201 | 49,473 | 52,928 |
| Offenders sentenced: community sentence · 110,751 · 99,858 · 96,622 · 92,125 · 87,709 · 62,253 | 71,246 | 69,760 | 70,970 | 75,236 | 77,574 |
| Offenders sentenced: fine · 891,497 · 912,903 · 905,777 · 931,898 · 936,730 · 624,973 | 735,328 | 834,604 | 886,416 | 931,097 | 928,713 |
| Offenders sentenced: compensation · 5,239 · 4,744 · 3,729 · 3,633 · 3,338 · 2,472 | 2,823 | 2,905 | 3,548 | 4,505 | 5,576 |
| Offenders sentenced: other disposals · 90,383 · 75,623 · 62,082 · 53,313 · 50,840 · 33,996 | 36,768 | 34,680 | 37,880 | 43,228 | 47,592 |
| Offenders sentenced: disposal not known · 70 · 70 · 5 · 14 · 18 · 14 | 18 | 13 | 11 | 17 | 4 |
| Average custodial sentence length (months) · 16.3 · 16.4 · 18.0 · 18.5 · 18.6 · 17.0 | 20.7 | 20.4 | 21.3 | 20.3 | 19.9 |
| Offenders (excluding companies, public bodies, etc.) sentenced total · 1,237,077 · 1,230,813 · 1,205,959 · 1,200,147 · 1,187,460 · 815,942 | 946,014 | 1,039,961 | 1,108,021 | 1,171,934 | 1,183,999 |
| Prison receptions · 69,043 · 67,126 · 64,525 · 58,792 · 54,376 · 40,221 | 42,051 | 42,914 | 46,479 | 46,909 | [x] |
| Probation starts · 137,739 · 127,834 · 120,330 · 110,007 · 105,484 · 79,738 | 93,952 | 91,321 | 91,511 | 95,905 | [x] |
How to interpret these figures
Cases can enter and finish in different years. These tables cannot be divided by police recorded crime totals to give a conviction probability.
Court outcomes describe completed proceedings, not the legal strength of a current allegation. Changes can reflect case mix, court activity and recording improvements. Consult the table notes before comparing categories.
Useful next steps
Practical help: criminal justice outcomes
These national statistics describe the work recorded in the criminal justice system. They are useful for understanding trends, but cannot predict an individual prosecution, verdict or sentence.
Understand the unit being counted
Tables can count defendants, proceedings, convictions or sentences. Principal-offence rules mean a record may represent the most serious offence rather than every charge. Read the measure label and original notes before adding or comparing values.
Avoid false conversion rates
Cases can begin in one year and finish in another. Police offence records cannot be matched to these court totals, so dividing convictions by recorded crimes would create a misleading rate.
Official guidance and related resources
Data sources
- Criminal Justice Statistics Quarterly: December 2025 · checked 13 September 2026
Figures retain the source’s units and periods. Unknown or suppressed values are not treated as zero. Methods and coverage · Report a correction.