Pressure on Victoria's criminal justice system has grown so great that prisoners have been unable to be brought to court for hearings, and some criminals have served their entire sentence in police cells – unable to access a prison bed.

The Magistrates Court of Victoria tabled its 2016-17 annual report to state parliament on Thursday.

Melbourne Magistrates Court has faced huge pressures. Credit:Penny Stephens

But the report's belated release – coming more than 18 months after it was signed off by Chief Magistrate Peter Lauritsen in September 2017 – highlights how much the court has struggled to keep pace with an increased workload.

The report shows magistrates courts dealt with, for example, 131,301 family violence matters in the 2016-17 financial year, a 34 per cent increase over the previous five years.