Reporting the late delivery of prisoners
Prisoner delivery delay/PECS form
Barristers across England and Wales repeatedly tell us that significant delays are caused by the late delivery of individuals in custody to the court room.
We’ve had many discussions with HMCTS and the Ministry of Justice about these delays and it helps to have concrete examples we can share to illustrate the impact on the trial process.
We’re asking for your help in gathering further examples. Every time you experience a delay, please tell us about it by filling in our dedicated delay form.
The information will be used in discussions with the government and parliamentarians, as well as in the media to highlight the Bar’s concerns.
Barristers' observations on the late delivery of prisoners to court report
In July 2026, we produced a report 'Barristers' observations on the late delivery of prisoners to court' examining the 213 reports we received between 12 February and 8 June 2026.
Key findings include:
- Delays caused by late prisoner delivery are found to be widespread across England and Wales - barristers reported delays from all 6 circuits including 69 courts and 59 prisons
- A quarter of reports (24%) said the delay was over 5 hours, 39% said the delay was between 30 minutes and two hours, and 34% said the delay was between two and five hours
- When asked to rate what impact the delays had on the smooth running of the case from 1 to 5 (with 5 being a significant impact), 69% of respondents rated the impact as being a level 4 or 5
Thank you to all the barristers who have completed our survey so far. We have begun to work with members of the government at a more granular level to look at specific barrister reports of late prisoners, triangulated against performance data. That work is ongoing and we will report on it in due course so please continue to report your experiences of the late delivery of prisoners to us by completing the form above.