What we can't tell you · Partial

What are the prosecution, conviction and custody rates by ethnicity, per person and per 100,000?

Partial Official data answers part of the question: some categories, some years, some geographies or one stage of a process.

Why

The Ministry of Justice "Statistics on ethnicity and the criminal justice system 2024" (published 27 November 2025, biennial) gives prosecutions, convictions and custody rates by ethnic group and offence group for England and Wales, mostly as proportions of the cohort at each stage. A labelled conviction ratio by ethnicity and offence group is on Ethnicity facts and figures only to 2017. Neither source publishes prosecutions or convictions per 100,000 population, and ethnicity is unknown for 33% of magistrates' court and 36% of Crown Court defendants, which limits any rate.

What is known

What is not known

Prosecutions and convictions per 100,000 population by ethnicity for any year
A current labelled conviction ratio by ethnicity and offence group
Any breakdown by court area or police force area

Who holds the data

Ministry of Justice (court proceedings database)
HM Courts and Tribunals Service

Would a Freedom of Information request help?

Possibly. The Ministry of Justice holds the defendant-level data and answers ad hoc requests, but any rate is limited by the share of defendants whose ethnicity is not recorded.

Privacy and disclosure restrictions

Ethnicity unknown for a third or more of defendants. The publication states that differences cannot be attributed to ethnicity alone. Small groups are combined or suppressed.

Official sources checked

Last reviewed 2026-09-02. Availability changes; if a publication now answers this question, challenge the classification below.