The crisis in the courts in England and Wales: how did we get here?

Official data paints bleak picture of justice system, with large backlog of cases and record numbers on remand

• Rape trials collapse as victims abandon cases amid long court delays

Barristers and judges spread too thinly. Prisons filled with the untried or unsentenced. Victims dropping out of prosecutions altogether. Such is the bleak picture that official government figures paint of the court system in England and Wales.

How did we get here? Experts have said the crisis in the courts - greatly exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic - is down to a variety of factors. Using government data, the Guardian has outlined some of the issues below.