Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many unrepresented defendants there were in the (a) magistrates' courts and (b) Crown courts.

Data on the representation status of defendants in the Crown Court is published as part of the annual Criminal Court Statistics publication at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-court-statistics-quarterly-january-to-march-2015. The representation status of defendants in magistrates’ courts is not recorded. Data on whether unrepresented defendants meet legal aid means and merits tests, and whether they chose to defend themselves, is not available.