DURATION OF CASES ADJUDICATED

The nature of the charges presented to the court for a defendant, along with the process required to deal with the charges, impact on the time required for a court to finalise a case. Court resources and complexity of cases can also have an impact. The duration of a case is calculated from the date of initiation to the date of finalisation of the case (for more information about duration see paragraph 61 of the Explanatory Notes).

For adjudicated defendants, the length of time to finalise cases increased between 2006-07 and 2011-12. In 2006-07 the proportion of defendants with cases finalised in less than 13 weeks was 71%, while the proportion of defendants with cases finalised in 52 weeks or more after initiation was 3%. The comparable figures for 2011-12 were 62% and 4%.

For 2011-12, of defendants that were proven guilty by the court, 63% were finalised less than 13 weeks after initiation. Of those acquitted, just over one-third (34%) were finalised in the same time period.

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