The outgoing director of public prosecutions, Max Hill KC, has warned that the unprecedented backlog of cases awaiting trial in the UK's Crown Courts is unlikely to be resolved soon.
Hill cited the overburdened Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) staff and a shortage of barristers available to handle cases in court as key challenges. The backlog has grown to 65,000 trials, with the government aiming to reduce it to 53,000 by March 2025.
Hill emphasized that victims of rape should have confidence in prosecutors as their cases were being prioritized. The backlog has been exacerbated by factors including court closures during the pandemic and strikes by criminal defense barristers over legal aid pay rates.