Cases awaiting trial in the Crown Court are currently at the highest ever levels. Some Courts are listing trials in late 2026. Historically, most Courts in London only gave a fixed trial date if there were particular reasons requiring one: usually expert evidence, a vulnerable witness or a vulnerable defendant. Custody cases where a Defendant was also on remand might also have been given a fixed trial date. All other cases were given a warned list trial date whereby their trial could begin on any day beginning on a particular date over the course of a two week period and defendants would be notified day before that the trial was going to begin. This system was not without its faults and there was no guarantee that a case would ever be called into its warned list, if a Court had other trials taking priority.

In a bid to reduce the backlog, manage caseloads and improve efficiency, Courts are now often giving fixed floating trials.

What are Fixed Floating Trials

In a fixed floating trial system, cases are assigned a specific trial date (the “fixed” part) but no court room is assigned until the day of trial and is subject to the Court having capacity to hear the trial.

The Defendant will be told to attend Court on the given date and then the Court will see whether any particular Court room has capacity to take the trial and get it underway.

Key Benefits of Fixed Floating Trials

• Improved case management: Courts can schedule multiple cases for the same day, knowing that some may settle or require less time than anticipated.
• Reduced delays: If a case settles or concludes early, the next case in the queue can be moved up, minimising courtroom downtime.
• Efficient use of resources: Judges and court staff can be allocated more effectively, reducing wasted time and resources.

Potential Challenges

• No guarantee the trial will start, the Court may not have capacity and may have to adjourn the case to another date far into the future.
• Parties made to wait all day at Court without the trial starting – Crown Prosecution Service, Defence, Defendant and witnesses made to wait at Court all day.
• Complex coordination: Court administrators must carefully manage the floating schedule to ensure smooth operations.

Implementation Considerations

Courts considering fixed floating trials should:

• Establish clear communication protocols for schedule changes
• Develop fair policies for prioritising cases within the floating range
• Provide adequate notice to all parties involved
• Monitor and evaluate the system’s effectiveness regularly.

The issue

While not a perfect solution, fixed floating trials offer an alternative approach to addressing the perennial challenge of court scheduling. However, the issue with fixed floating trials are that there is no guarantee that the Court will have capacity to deal with the trial at all and it may still be adjourned until another fixed floating trial date which could be months or even years away.

It remains to be seen whether fixed floating trials will reduce the backlog of cases but in our experience many fixed floating trials have not taken place and have been adjourned again.

How we can help

The dedicated team at TV Edwards has been at the forefront of criminal defence work in London for over 50 years, offering specialist legal advice on the full range of criminal defence work.

Should your or anyone you know need representation please email enquiries@tvedwards.com or call 020 3440 8000 to speak to one of our specialist team

Disclaimer: The information on the TV Edwards website is for general information only and reflects the position at the date of publication.