UK Independent Review Of The Criminal Courts ' Part 1

• Published date: 28 July 2025
• Subject Matter: Criminal Law, White Collar Crime, Anti-Corruption & Fraud
• Law Firm: WilmerHale
• Author: Lloyd Firth and Katy O'Connor

On 9 July 2025, part 1 of the Independent Review of the Criminal Courts, chaired by Sir Brian Leveson was published (the Report). Leveson was tasked by the UK Ministry of Justice with conducting a wide-ranging review of the UK criminal court system. Part 1 focuses on reform and proposes various radical changes to criminal procedure and the court system in response to the crisis currently affecting UK criminal justice, with over 77,000 outstanding cases in the Crown Court and some trials being listed for 2029. Part 2, expected to be published later this year, will identify means to improve the overall efficiency of the UK criminal justice system.

This post highlights certain of the Report's recommendations and considers their effectiveness and potential collateral impact.

Background

Leveson cannot be criticised for sugarcoating the current crisis in UK criminal justice:

'' there is a real risk of total system collapse in the near future. That is to say that cases have little or no chance of being brought before the court, victims and witnesses disengage and if they do attend court that would be three or four years later, when they cannot recall specifics. Overall, the criminal justice system would stagnate, open caseloads would continue to increase, agencies would not be able to cope and...