High Court Quarterly Bulletin for October to December 2009 (Provisional Figures)

Contents

Chancery

Queen’s Bench

Judicial Reviews

Probate

Wardship and Adoption

Matrimonial

Bails

Patients

Official Solicitors

Sitting days and times

High Court figures on Children’s Order cases, Crown Court cases, bail applications and appeals appear in other bulletins.

In the tables relating to time intervals, the total time from issue to disposal may not equal that of the individual time periods due to some dates not being applicable.

Figures are run from an administrative database and may change due to late returns and further validations.

Summary
During Oct - Dec 2009:

Chancery

There were 1,632 cases received into the Chancery division. In total, 63% were chancery cases, 29% were bankruptcy cases and 8% were companies’ cases. There were 1,694 cases disposed of during the reporting period.

Queen’s Bench

There were 1,952 writs received in Queen’s Bench (Fig 1). Of those, 61% were negligence cases. There were 252 default judgments, 310 office disposals and 510 court disposals for writs during the quarter. There were 151 removals and remittals applications dealt with.

Judicial Reviews

There were 62 applications for leave to apply for Judicial Review and 34 applications for Judicial Review received during the quarter. Of the 21 applications for Judicial Review disposed of during the quarter, 4 were granted.

Probate

There were 1,465 grants issued during the quarter in the probate office.

Wardship and Adoption

There were 28 adoption applications received and 42 adoption applications disposed of during the quarter. It took, on average, 30 weeks for an adoption application to progress through the courts.

Matrimonial

There were 673 divorce petitions lodged in the High Court. Of these, 423 petitions were lodged by the wife. In total, 331 decrees nisi and 219 absolutes were issued.

Patients

There were 222 new referrals in the Patients section.

Official Solicitors

There were 598 certificates drafted in the Official Solicitors office.

Sitting days and times

There were 643 sitting days in the High Court during the quarter (Fig 2).

Chancery

Table 1: Chancery cases and applications received

Case Mortgages 807
Other land and property 35
Trade and business 11
Trusts 4
Other 164
Total 1021
Application Notice of appointment 881
Summons 218
Notice of motion 15
Exparte application 61
Injunction 9
Transfer to Commercial List 1
Total 1185

Table 2: Chancery cases setdown

Case Other land and property 8
Trade and business 2
Other 20
Total 30

Table 3: Chancery cases and applications disposed

High Court Judge Master Office disposal Total
Case Mortgages 1 871 872
Other land and property 18 2 1 21
Trade and business 3 3
Trusts 1 1
Other 46 5 3 54
Total 69 878 4 951
Application Notice of appointment 48 48
Summons 67 140 207
Notice of motion 5 1 6
Exparte application 3 54 57
Injunction 2 2
Total 77 242 1 320

Table 4: Bankruptcy cases and applications received

Case Petition by another person 229
Petition by debtor 160
Other petition 3
Originating application 58
Other 28
Total 478
Application Notice of motion 3
Ordinary application 248
Certificate of automatic discharge 7
Other 1
Total 259

Table 5: Bankruptcy cases and applications disposed

High Court Judge Master Total
Case Petition by another person 361 361
Petition by debtor 192 192
Other petition 1 1
Originating application 32 32
Other 25 25
Total 611 611
Application Notice of motion 1 1
Ordinary application 1 199 200
Certificate of automatic discharge 5 5
Other 3 3
Total 1 208 209

Table 6: Companies cases and applications received

Case Winding up petition 99
Other petitions 3
Originating summons 23
Other 8
Total 133
Application Notice of motion 5
Ordinary application 8
Other 2
Total 15

Table 7: Companies cases and applications disposed

High Court Judge Master Total
Case Winding up petition 3 112 115
Other petitions 1 1
Originating summons 2 8 10
Other 4 2 6
Total 9 123 132
Application Notice of motion 1 1
Ordinary application 1 1
Total 2 2

Table 8: Time intervals in weeks

Chancery Bankruptcy Companies
Case Application Case Application Case Application
Issue to first listing 25 9 7 3 10 3
First listing to disposal 5 3 4 2 5 0
Issue to disposal 31 10 11 6 14 3

Due to rounding, individual time intervals may not equal the overall time taken to progress through the courts

Queen’s Bench

Table 9: Queen's Bench cases and applications received

Writs and originating summons Negligence 1188
Breach 43
Road injuries 276
Personal injuries 72
Monies due 316
Other 57
Total 1952
Miscellaneous Foreign judgement 68
Other 36
Total 104
Applications Summons/interlocutory applications 548
Remittals and removals 151
Exparte applications 87
Other 153
Total 939

Table 10: Queen's Bench writs and originating summons received by amount claimed

Unliquidated Less than £1,000 £1,000-2,999 £3,000-14,999 Over £15,000 Total
Negligence 1188 1188
Breach 40 3 43
Road injuries 274 2 276
Personal injuries 72 72
Monies due 19 1 12 64 220 316
Other 57 57
Total 1650 1 12 64 225 1952

Table 11: Queen's Bench writs and originating summons setdown by amount claimed

Unliquidated £3,000-14,999 Over £15,000 Total
Negligence 345 1 1 347
Breach 6 6
Road injuries 109 1 4 114
Personal injuries 35 1 3 39
Monies due 3 6 9
Other 8 1 9
Total 506 3 15 524

Table 12: Queen's Bench cases and applications disposed

High Court Judge Master Office disposal Default judgement Total
Writs and originating summons Negligence 284 10 148 9 451
Breach 8 3 5 16
Road injuries 120 3 84 7 214
Personal injuries 41 38 1 80
Monies due 2 12 228 242
Other 37 5 25 2 69
Total 492 18 310 252 1072
Miscellaneous Foreign judgement 7 7
Other 1 1
Total 8 8
Applications Summons/interlocutory applications 30 501 531
Remittals and removals 151 151
Exparte applications 12 48 60
Other 68 79 147
Total 110 779 889

Excludes commercial actions

Table 13: Queen's Bench writs and originating summons disposed of by amount

Unliquidated Less than £1,000 £1,000-2,999 £3,000-14,999 Over £15,000 Total
High Court Judge Negligence 163 3 57 61 284
Breach 5 3 8
Road injuries 19 25 76 120
Personal injuries 27 4 10 41
Monies due 2 2
Other 23 3 11 37
Master Negligence 9 1 10
Road injuries 2 1 3
Other 5 5
Default judgement Negligence 9 9
Breach 4 1 5
Road injuries 6 1 7
Personal injuries 1 1
Monies due 13 1 5 70 139 228
Other 2 2
Total 288 1 8 161 304 762

Excludes commercial actions

Table 14: Queen's Bench commercial actions setdown

Negligence 6
Breach 5
Personal injuries 1
Monies due 5
Other 1
Total 18

Table 15: Queen's Bench commercial actions disposed

High Court Judge Total
Negligence 5 5
Breach 12 12
Monies due 15 15
Other 1 1
Total 33 33

Table 16: Time intervals in weeks

Writs and originating summons Commercial actions Miscellaneous Applications
Issue to setdown 100 132 . .
Issue to first listing 102 119 . 5
First listing to disposal 24 56 . 5
Issue to disposal 125 173 1 8

Excludes default judgements and office disposals

Due to rounding and not all writs and originating summons having a set-down date, individual time intervals may not equal the overall time taken to progress through the courts

Judicial Reviews

Table 17: Judicial Reviews applications received

Application for leave to apply for judicial review 62
Application for judicial review 34

Table 18: Judicial Reviews applications disposed

Granted Withdrawn /Refused/ Dismissed Other Total
Application for leave to apply for judicial review 15 28 15 58
Application for judicial review 4 13 4 21

Table 19: Time intervals in weeks

Application for leave to apply for judicial review Application for judicial review
Issue to first listing 2 9
First listing to disposal 6 19
Issue to disposal 7 27

Due to rounding, individual time intervals may not equal the overall time taken to progress through the courts

Probate

Table 20: Probate grants issued in non-contentious proceedings

District registry Probate Northern Ireland
By solicitor By solicitor
Grant of administration 1 1
Letters of administration with will annexed 6 30 36
Letters of administration with will annexed (DBN) 3 1 4
Letters of administration 78 243 321
Grant of probate 208 887 1095
Letters of administration (DBN) 2 6 8
Total grants issued 297 1168 1465

Wardship and adoption

Table 21: Adoption cases and applications received

Adoption Order Application 13
Child Abduction Originating Summons 1
Freeing Order Application 3
Originating Summons (General) 1
Interlocutory Application 6
Wardship Originating Summons 4
Total 28

Table 22: Adoption cases and applications disposed

High Court Judge Master Total
Adoption Order Application 27 27
Child Abduction Originating Summons 3 3
Freeing Order Application 7 7
Originating Summons (General) 2 2
Interlocutory Application 2 2
Wardship Originating Summons 1 1
Total 41 1 42

Table 23: Family homes and domestic violence cases and applications received

App For Occup/Non Mol 1
Exparte App For Occup/Non Mol 6
Total 7

Table 24: Family homes and domestic violence cases and applications disposed

High Court Judge Master Total
App For Occup/Non Mol 3 6 9
Exparte App For Occup/Non Mol 6 9 15
Total 9 15 24

Table 25: Time intervals in weeks

Adoption Family Homes And Domestic Violence
Issue to first listing 22 1
First listing to disposal 7 28
Issue to disposal 30 29

Due to rounding, individual time intervals may not equal the overall time taken to progress through the courts

Table 26: Divorce petitions received

Filed by
Wife Husband Unknown Total
Divorce Petition 2 years with consent 161 114 1 276
5 years separation 86 89 175
Adultery 18 5 23
Unreasonable behaviour 117 30 147
Combination of grounds/other 41 11 52
Total 423 249 1 673

Table 27: Divorce petitions by type of Decree Nisi

Found by
Wife Husband Both Total
Decree Nisi 2 years with consent 65 43 108
5 years separation 31 31 62
Adultery 7 4 11
Unreasonable behaviour 52 9 61
Combination of grounds/other 63 21 5 89
Judicial Separation 5 years separation 1 1
Combination of grounds/other 1 1
Total 220 108 5 333

Table 28: Divorce petitions by number of absolutes issued

Found by
Wife Husband Both Total
Divorce Petition 2 years with consent 45 30 75
5 years separation 33 20 53
Adultery 3 2 5
Unreasonable behaviour 38 3 41
Combination of grounds/other 36 6 3 45
Total 155 61 3 219

Table 29: Matrimonial applications received

Application Combination of grounds/other 5
Ancillary relief 123
Matrimonial application 187
Other 13
Total 328

Table 30: Matrimonial applications disposed

Judge Master Total
Application Combination of grounds/other 5 5
Ancillary relief 2 139 141
Matrimonial application 13 129 142
Other 6 2 8
Total 26 270 296

Table 31: Time intervals in weeks for divorce petitions

Divorce Petition
Issue to first listing 42
First listing to date decree granted 8
Issue to date decree granted 51
Date decree granted to date absolute issued 9

Due to rounding, individual time intervals may not equal the overall time taken to progress through the courts

Table 32: Time intervals in weeks for divorce applications

Combination of grounds/other Ancillary relief Matrimonial application Other
Issue to first listing 0 7 4 2
First listing to disposal 29 48 4 2
Issue to disposal 29 54 8 4

Due to rounding, individual time intervals may not equal the overall time taken to progress through the courts

High Court Bails

Table 33: Number of bail applications received

Bail application 393
Bail pending appeal to county court 6
Compassionate bail application 53
Application to revoke bail 2
TIM 2
Bail variation 153
Total 609

Table 34: Number of bail applications disposed in chambers

Granted Refused Other Total
Bail application 7 3 10
Compassionate bail application 1 1
Bail variation 90 1 13 104
Total 97 5 13 115

Table 35: Number of bail applications disposed of in court

Granted Refused Revoke Other Total
Bail application 143 189 20 352
Bail pending appeal to county court 3 4 7
Compassionate bail application 20 23 1 1 45
Application to revoke bail 1 1
Bail variation 39 7 1 47
Total 206 223 1 22 452

Patients

Table 36: Patients

New referrals 222
EPA applications received 69
Orders issued 230
Certificates issued 1320
Reviews completed 169
Visits 1

Official Solicitors Office

Table 37: Official Solicitor Office statistics

Correspondence received 1919
New Referrals 3
Cases OS assisting OCP 24
OS appointed Controller Ad interim 5
Certificates drafted 598
OS appointed Full Controller 4

Sitting days and times

Table 38: High Court sitting days

Children Order 60
Other Family 41
Appeals 5
Queen's Bench 161
Chancery 50
Bails 94
Crown 114
Judicial Reviews 72
Criminal Appeals 15
Civil Appeals 31
Total 643

Table 39: High Court sitting times

Children Order 162:25:00
Other family 80:46:20
Appeals 7:20:00
Queens Bench 493:17:34
Chancery 160:22:00
Bails 181:12:10
Callover 0:00:00
Crown 366:48:00
Judicial reviews 122:29:00
Criminal appeals 20:30:00
Civil appeals 57:55:00
Total 1653:05:04