The Crown Court is the criminal court of first instance in England and Wales responsible for hearing all indictable offences, some either way offences and appeals of the decisions of magistrates' courts. It is one of three Senior Courts of England and Wales.

The Crown Court sits in around 92 locations in England and Wales, divided into Circuits. When sitting in the City of London, it is known as the Central Criminal Court or "Old Bailey".

The Crown Court is administered by HM Courts and Tribunals Service, an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice.

England and Wales formerly used a system of courts of assize and quarter sessions for indictment trials at first instance. However, the Beeching Commission in 1969 recommended the replacement of the assize system, following the model of the 'crown courts' introduced by the Criminal Justice Administration Act 1956 (4 & 5 Eliz. 2. c. 34). in Liverpool and Manchester.

The current Crown Court was established on 1 January 1972 by the Courts Act 1971, establishing a unitary trial court for the whole jurisdiction.

With the merging of the various court services into what is now HM Courts and Tribunals Service, the Crown Court frequently shares facilities with the County Court and magistrates' courts.

The Crown Court carries out four principal types of activity:

The average time from receipt by the Crown Court to completion was 177 days by the start of 2016.