Summary
Aim
In 2023 the NSW Criminal Courts finalised 1% more appearances than in 2022 and 5% more than in the year prior to the pandemic (2019). The Local Court finalised 7% more matters in 2023 than in 2019, driven by an increase in domestic violence related matters. In 2023, one in four Local Court finalisations involved a domestic violence related charge.
In 2023, the median time from arrest to finalisation for defended hearings in the Local Court was 281 days. This is 29 days shorter than in 2022 (310 days), but 79 days longer than pre-pandemic (202 days in 2019).