Northern Ireland Court Service Judicial Statistics 2006

A NATIONAL STATISTICS PUBLICATION

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Index

Introduction

Part A: The Court of Appeal

• Section 1: Criminal appeals
  
• Section 2: Civil appeals
  
• Section 3: Court sitting times

Part B: The High Court

• Section 1: Chancery
  
• Section 2: Bankruptcy
  
• Section 3: Companies
  
• Section 4: Queen’s Bench Division
  
• Section 5: Judicial reviews
  
• Section 6: Probate
  
• Section 7: Matrimonial
  
• Section 8: Wardship and Adoption
  
• Section 9: Care & Protection
  
• Section 10: Official Solicitors Office
  
• Section 11: Masters appeals
  
• Section 12: High Court bails
  
• Section 13: Court sitting days and court sitting times

Part C: Crown Court

• Section 1: Cases received and disposed
  
• Section 2: Waiting times between committal and arraignment
  
• Section 3: Waiting times between arraignment and start of hearing
  
• Section 4: Waiting time between committal and start of hearing
  
• Section 5: Waiting times between start of hearing and disposal
  
• Section 6: Defendants disposed
  
• Section 7: Court sitting days and court sitting times

Part D: County Court

• Section 1: Appeals from magistrates’ courts
  
• Section 2: Criminal injury cases
  
• Section 3: Licences
  
• Section 4: Ordinary civil bills
  
• Section 5: Equity
  
• Section 6: Ejectment
  
• Section 7: Small claims
  
• Section 8: Divorce cases
  
• Section 9: Court sitting days and court sitting times

Part E: Magistrates’ Courts

• Section 1: Business volumes received in the magistrates’ court
  
• Section 2: Adult criminal business disposed
  
• Section 3: Youth criminal business disposed
  
• Section 4: Civil business disposed
  
• Section 5: Court sittings and court sitting times

Part F: Children Order

• Section 1: Applications entered and disposed
  
• Section 2: Reasons for transfer
  
• Section 3: Own motion orders and interim orders
  
• Section 4: Outcome of applications
  
• Section 5: Age and gender of children
  
• Section 6: Average time in weeks from lodgment to disposal by venue
  
• Section 7: Court sitting days and court sitting times

Part G Miscellaneous

• Section 1: Enforcement of Judgments Office
  
• Section 2: Social Security Commissioners and Child Support Commissioners
  
• Section 3: Coroners office

Appendix 1: Judge sitting days

Introduction

1 Contents

The statistics in this report relate to the criminal, civil and family business conducted by
the Northern Ireland Court Service (NICtS) and to the work of some associated
tribunals and offices. This introduction sets out a brief description of the courts and the
business that the statistics relate to.

2 The Court Structure

The Court of Appeal: The Court of Appeal sits at the Royal Courts of Justice in Belfast.
The Judges of the Court of Appeal are the Lord Chief Justice (who is the President of
the Court of Appeal) and three Lord Justices of Appeal. High Court Judges can sit in
the Court of Appeal on criminal causes or matters. The Court of Appeal hears appeals
in criminal matters from the Crown Court and civil matters from the High Court
(including Judicial Reviews). It also hears appeals on points of law from the county
courts, magistrates’ courts and certain appeal tribunals.

The High Court: The High Court sits at the Royal Courts of Justice in Belfast. It consists
of the Lord Chief Justice (who is the President of the High Court), and 3 Lord Justices’
of Appeal along with ten High Court Judges and two deputy High Court Judges. The
High Court hears high value and complex civil cases. The High Court comprises three
Divisions: the Chancery Division, Queen’s Bench Division and Family Division.

The Crown Court: The Crown Court has exclusive jurisdiction to try offences charged
on indictment. Offences tried on indictment are the more serious offences. The Lord
Chief Justice is President of the Crown Court and the Lords Justices of Appeal, High
Court judges and county court judges all sit in the Crown Court. The Crown Court sits
throughout Northern Ireland.

County Courts: In Northern Ireland, there are seven county court divisions with
seventeen county court judges and four district judges. Civil cases are commenced in
the county court if the value of the case is less than £15,000. However, for claims
concerning matrimonial property or compensation for criminal injuries or criminal
damage to property, there is no financial limit. County courts also have jurisdiction to
hear applications for adoptions and undefended divorces. Applications for intoxicating
liquor licences and certificates of registration for clubs are also made to the county
courts. In addition to its original civil jurisdiction the county court hears appeals under a
number of statutory provisions from the magistrates’ courts or from other tribunals.

Magistrates’ Courts: There are twenty-one petty sessions’ districts in Northern Ireland.
A magistrates’ court (other than a youth court or family proceedings court) is presided
over by a Resident Magistrate sitting alone. The present complement of Resident
Magistrates is twenty-one. The magistrates’ court hears and determines less serious
criminal cases, cases involving youth and some civil and domestic cases including
family proceedings.

Coroners Courts: The Coroners Service is headed by a High Court Judge. There is one
Senior Coroner and two Coroners. They deal with matters relating to deaths that may
require further investigation to establish the cause of death.

Social Security Commissioners and Child Support Commissioner: Social Security
Commissioners hear appeals from Appeal Tribunals in relation to matters arising under
the social security system. Child Support Commissioners hear appeals from Child
Support Appeal Tribunals.

The Enforcement of Judgments Office: The Enforcement of Judgments Office (EJO)
deals with enforcing money judgments and also enforces other types of civil judgments
such as those that are connected with the possession of land and property.

3 Databases

In previous years, Judicial Statistics reported on and compared business in the courts
between years. In 2005, a new court operations system called the Integrated Court
Operations System (ICOS) was introduced in the High Court and county court. Regular
downloads of information are available from this new system, and this has resulted in
access to more detailed information across all court tiers. The High Court and county
court sections have been completed based on ICOS and caution should be taken when
comparing figures prior to 2004.

During 2006, IOCS was introduced in the Crown Court and the magistrates' court. As a
result, the data is based on old systems merged with data from ICOS. Some tables are
not compatible and two separate tables may be provided. For further advice on the
differences between 2006 figures and previous years, please contact the Northern
Ireland Court Service.

The Court Structure in Northern Ireland:

Part A Court Of Appeal

Court of Appeal is divided into civil and criminal. It hears appeals from decisions in the
High Court and against convictions or sentences passed by the Crown Court.

Key facts during 2006

• 63 criminal appeals were lodged in the Court of Appeal
  
• 55 criminal appeals were disposed of in the Court of Appeal
  
• 13 criminal appeals were successful
  
• 91 civil appeals were set down in the Court of Appeal
  
• 86 civil appeals were disposed of in the Court of Appeal

Figure A.1 Criminal appeals lodged and disposed of from 2002-2006

Section 1: Criminal appeals

The number of criminal appeals lodged in 2006 increased from 53 in 2005 to 63 in 2006
(Table A.1).

Table A.1: Criminal appeals lodged and disposed of in 2006

There were 33 appeals lodged against sentence only, 17 were against conviction while
the remaining 13 were against both conviction and sentence. Of the 63 appeals lodged
during 2006, 19 resulted from trials dealing with scheduled offences (Table A.2).

Table A.2: Types of criminal appeal lodged in 2006

There were 13 successful appeals in 2006 with 9 appeals refused, 16 appeals
abandoned and 4 appeals withdrawn (Table A.3).

Table A.3: Results of criminal appeals by type in 2005

Section 2: Civil appeals

There were 91 civil appeals set down in 2006, 12 more than the 2005 total of 79. As in
previous years, the main source of civil appeals was the Queen’s Bench Division of the
High Court with 39 cases set down. A total of 86 appeals were disposed of during the
year (Table A.4).

Table A.4: Appeals set down and disposed of by origin and type in 2006

Section 3: Court sitting times

The number of court sitting days spent on criminal appeals (by majority type of work)
decreased from 195 days in 2005 to 158 days in 2006. A total of 406 hours were spent
in court hearing criminal appeals in 2006 compared with 560 court hours in 2005. There
were 140 court sitting days (by majority type of work) spent on civil appeals during 2006
compared with 220 in 2005. A total of 362 hours were spent in court hearing civil
appeals compared with 595 court hours during 2005 (Figure A.2 & Table B.39).

Figure A.2 Number of court sitting days (majority days) in the Court of Appeal from 2002-2006

Part B High Court

The High Court is a civil court which consists of the chancery division, Queen’s Bench
division and the family division.

Key facts during 2006

• 2,523 mortgage applications were entered in Chancery
  
• 3,545 bankruptcy proceedings were entered
  
• 3,105 bankruptcy proceedings were disposed
  
• 286 companies proceedings were disposed
  
• 4,399 writs and originating summons were received
  
• 522 judgments by default were entered
  
• 3,649 applications for bails were received
  
• 3,105 divorce petitions filed in the High Court

Figure B1: Queen's Bench writs and originating summons disposals in 2006

Section 1: Chancery

Table B.1 shows that during 2006, a total of 2,870 Chancery writs and originating
summonses were issued. Mortgage suits continue to account for the majority (88%) of
writs and originating summonses issued. The number of mortgages received has
decreased by 2% during 2006, with 2,562 issued in 2005 compared to 2,523 in 2006.

Table B.1: Chancery cases and applications received in 2006

There were 2,554 cases and applications disposed of in 2006. Land and property
accounted for the majority of disposals with 1,683 cases disposed of in respect of
mortgage applications (Table B.2).

Table B.2: Chancery cases and applications disposed in 2006

Section 2: Bankruptcy

There were 3,545 bankruptcy proceedings issued in 2006. These included 1,984
bankruptcy petitions, 75% of which were creditor petitions. Other bankruptcy
proceedings included 200 originating applications and 1,093 ordinary applications
(Table B.3).

Table B.3: Bankruptcy cases and applications received in 2006

The master dealt with a total of 3,092 bankruptcy proceedings. The main area of work
disposed of by the master was bankruptcy petitions, a total of 1,970 (Table B.4).

Table B.4: Bankruptcy cases and applications disposed in 2006

Section 3: Companies

Table B.5 and B.6 show the companies’ proceedings entered and disposed for 2006.
There were 373 companies’ proceedings received and 286 disposed.

Table B.5: Companies cases and applications received in 2006

Table B.6: Companies cases and applications disposed in 2006

Table B.7 shows the time interval in weeks for cases and applications in the Chancery
division for the three business areas. A chancery case takes on average 33 weeks from
date of issue to date of disposal compared to 11 weeks for a bankruptcy case and 12
weeks for a companies case.

Table B.7: Time intervals in weeks in 2006

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

Section 4: Queen’s Bench Division

There were 9,157 Queen’s Bench cases and applications received during 2006, 48% of
these were made up of Writs and Originating Summons. There has been an 11%
decrease in the number of writs received from 4,916 in 2005 to 4,399 in 2006 (Table
B.8).

Table B.8: Queen's Bench cases and applications received in 2006

Table B.9 shows the breakdown of the amount claimed in writs and originating
summons in 2006.

Table B.9: Queen's Bench writs and originating summons received by amount claimed in 2006

There were 1,867 Queens Bench writs (excluding commercial actions) set down for trial
during 2006 (Table B.10).

Table B.10: Queen's Bench writs and originating summons setdown by amount claimed in 2006

There were 1,613 writs dealt with in court and 917 writs disposed of as office disposals.
Actions set down as negligence constituted 40% of writs disposed of (Table B.11).

Table B.11: Queen's cases and applications disposed in 2006

Excludes commercial actions

Of the 2,135 writs disposed of, 44% were for over £15,000 (Table B.12).

Table B.12: Queen's Bench writs and originating summons disposed by amount in 2006

Excludes commercial actions

Tables B.13 and B.14 show the number of commercial actions entered and disposed.
During 2006, 65 actions were entered in the commercial list. In total, 171 cases were
disposed of with 165 of these disposed of by a High Court Judge.

Table B.13: Queen's Bench commercial actions setdown in 2006

Table B.14: Queen's Bench commercial actions disposed in 2006

In 2006, the average length of time for a writ from first listing to disposal was 34 weeks
(Table B.15).

Table B.15: Time intervals in weeks in 2006

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

Section 5: Judicial reviews

Tables B.16 and B.17 are in relation to Judicial Reviews. Just under half of the
applications for leave to apply for judicial review were granted (49%). Of the 138
applications for judicial review that were disposed in 2006, 30% were granted.

Table B.16: Judicial Reviews applications received in 2006

Table B.17: Judicial Reviews applications disposed in 2006

In 2006, the average length of time from issue to disposal of applications for judicial review was 26 weeks (Table B.18).

Table B.18: Time intervals in weeks in 2006

Due to rounding and not all applications having a court date, individual time intervals may not equal the overall time taken to progress through the courts

Section 6: Probate

The number of grants of probate issued during 2006 decreased by 1% from 5,687 in 2005 to 5,626 in 2006 (Table B.19).

Table B.19: Probate grants issued in non-contentious proceedings in 2006

Section 7: Matrimonial

The number of divorce petitions filed decreased by 6%, from 3,311 in 2005 to 3,105 in 2006 (Table B.20).

Table B.20: Divorce petitions received in 2006

There were 1,124 decree nisi’s granted in the High Court during 2006, an increase of
6% on the 1,063 granted during 2005. The most common ground for dissolution
continued to be separation (2 years and consent) accounting for 36% of all cases
(Table B.21).

Table B.21: Divorce petitions by type of decree in 2006

Table B.22: Divorce petitions by number of absolutes issued in 2006

During 2006, there were 1,426 matrimonial applications received. In total, 44% of
applications were for ancillary relief (Table B.23).

Table B.23: Matrimonial applications received in 2006

Of the 1,202 applications disposed of during 2006, 621 (52%) were for ancillary relief
(Table B.24).

Table B.24: Matrimonial applications disposed in 2006

The average time from the issue of a petition to the date the decree was granted was
45 weeks (Table B.25).

Table B.25: Time intervals in weeks for divorce petitions in 2006

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

During 2006, the average time from issue to disposal of a matrimonial application was 9
weeks. Applications for ancillary relief took on average 49 weeks from date of issue to
date of disposal (Table B.26).

Table B.26: Time intervals in weeks for divorce applications in 2006

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

Section 8: Wardship and Adoption

During 2006, adoption order applications accounted for 69% of the total applications
received (Table B.27).

Table B.27: Adoption cases and applications received in 2006

Of the cases disposed, 93% were disposed of by a High Court judge. The majority of
these (64%) were adoption order applications (Table B.28).

Table B.28: Adoption cases and applications disposed in 2006

Ex-parte applications for occupation/non-molestation orders accounted for 78% of the
total number of family homes and domestic violence cases and applications received
(Table B.29).

Table B.29: Family homes and domestic violence cases and applications received in 2006

The master disposed of 92% of the total number of family homes and domestic violence
cases and applications during 2006. Table B.30 shows that 83% of these cases were
exparte.

Table B.30: Family homes and domestic violence cases and applications disposed in 2006

Table B.31 shows the average time in weeks for adoption and family homes and
domestic violence cases and applications during 2006. It took on average 30 weeks for
an adoption case from date of issue to date of disposal.

Table B.31: Time intervals in weeks in 2006

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

Section 9: Care and Protection

There were 821 patients were referred to the Care and Protection Office in 2006 for
investigation under the Mental Health Order, representing an 15% increase on the 2005
total of 713 patients. The total live caseload for 2006 was 1,332 (Table B.32).

Table B.32: Office of Care and Protection – Mental Health proceedings in 2006

Section 10: Official Solicitors Office

Tables B.33 and B.34 demonstrates the caseload of the Official Solicitors Office. There
were 459 live patient cases and 437 minors during 2006.

Table B.33: Official Solicitor’s Office – Patients caseload in 2006

Table B.34: Official Solicitor’s Office – Minors caseload in 2006

Section 11: Masters’ appeals

There were 113 masters’ appeals received and 89 masters’ appeals disposed of during
this period (Tables B.35 and B.36).

Table B.35: Masters’ appeals received in 2006

Table B.36: Masters’ appeals disposed in 2006

Section 12: High Court bails

There were 3,679 applications for bail in the High Court during 2006. Of these, 1,679
(46%) were granted (Tables B.37 and B.38).

Table B.37 Type of Bail applications in High Court in 2006

Table B.38 Outcome of Bail applications in High Court in 2006

Section 13: Court Sitting days and court sitting times

High Court Judges sat on a total of 2,296 court sitting days, an increase of 2% on the
2,252 days sat during 2005. By majority type of work, High Court Judges sat for a total
of 551 days hearing Queens Bench business and 505 in the Crown Court (Table B.39).

Table B.39 High Court Judges court sitting days and court sitting times in 2006

Days are classified on the basis of the majority business undertaken
Total court sitting time is classified on the basis of all court sitting time spent on each business area
A court sitting day is counted as any day where the judiciary sit in court. It does not include time in chambers or days where the judiciary are sitting in
chambers.

Part C Crown Court

The Crown Court deals with all cases committed for trial by magistrates’ courts, cases
for trial are usually heard before a judge and jury.

Key facts during 2006

• 1,267 Crown Court cases were received
  
• 1,269 Crown Court cases were disposed of
  
• There were a total of 1,543 defendants disposed of
  
• 1,110 of defendants disposed of in 2006 were on bail at arraignment
  
• The average time from committal to first hearing was 20 weeks

Figure C.1: Number of cases received and disposed in the Crown Court from 2002-2006

Section 1: Cases received and disposed

Tables C.1 show the number of cases received and disposed of in 2006. There were
1,267 cases received in 2006 compared to 1,285 in 2005, a decrease of 1%. In 2006,
there were 1,269 cases dealt with, a 4% increase from the 1,224 in 2005.

Table C.1: Crown Court cases received and disposed in 2006

Section 2: Waiting times between committal and arraignment

Overall, 1,543 defendants were disposed of during 2006. This is a 3% increase on the
1,501 defendants disposed of in 2005. The average waiting time from committal to
arraignment was 9 weeks for defendants disposed of in 2006 and 71% of all defendants
were on bail when they were arraigned (Table C.2).

Table C.2: Time between committal and arraignment for defendants disposed of in 2006

Waiting times do not exclude recess

Section 3: Waiting times between arraignment and start of hearing

The average waiting time between arraignment and first hearing was 12 weeks (Table C.3)

Table C.3: Time between arraignment and start of hearing for defendants disposed of in 2006

Waiting times do not exclude recess

Section 4: Waiting time between committal and start of hearing

Table C.4 shows the waiting time in weeks from committal to first hearing for
defendants disposed of in 2006. The overall average waiting times between committal
and start of hearing has increased to 20 weeks. In comparison to 2005, the average
waiting time increased by 10 weeks for scheduled defendants. Since 2005, waiting
times have increased by 2 weeks for those defendants heard before a High Court
Judge.

Table C.4 Time between committal and start of hearing for defendants disposed of in 2006

Section 5: Waiting times between start of hearing and disposal

The average waiting time between the start of hearing and disposal was 9 weeks (Table C.5).

Table C.5: Time between start of hearing and disposal for defendants disposed of in 2006

Section 6: Defendants disposed

There were a total of 1,543 defendants disposed of during 2006. In total, 49% of these
defendants had a plea of guilty on all charges, 20% had a plea of not guilty on all
charges and <1% of defendants were found unfit to plead on all charges (Table C.6).

Table C.6: Plea and outcome defendants disposed of in 2006

Section 7: Crown Court sitting days and times

There were 2,674 sitting days in the Crown Court in 2006. This represents a 9%
increase in the number of sitting days in 2005.

Table C.7: Crown Court Sitting days and total Crown Court time

A court sitting day is counted as any day where the judiciary sit in court. It does not include time in chambers or days where the judiciary are
sitting in chambers.

Part D County Court

County Courts deal with civil matters including all monetary claims up to £15,000. In
Northern Ireland, there are seven County Court Divisions. However, the court may sit in
more than one venue within the Division.

Key facts during 2006

• 1,006 appellants were dealt with
  
• 321 criminal injuries were received
  
• 7,135 ordinary civil bills had NIDs received
  
• 9,596 ordinary civil bills were disposed of
  
• 11,711 small claims were received
  
• 9,845 small claims were disposed of
  
• 1,483 decrees nisi granted

Figure D.1: Number of ordinary civil bills received in 2006

Section 1: Appeals from magistrates’ courts

Caution should be used when comparing the 2006 appeal figures with previous years
as differences in the figures could be due to changes in collecting data in 2006. There
were a total of 2,080 appeals received during 2006. Table D.1 shows that 1,826
appeals were disposed of in the county court during 2006.

Table D.1: Appeals from the magistrates’ court in 2006

Table D.2 shows the number of persons whose appeals were heard in the county court
in 2006. There were 1,006 appellants in 2006.

Table D.2: Number of appellants from the magistrates’ court disposed in 2006

Section 2: Criminal injury cases

The 321 criminal injury cases received during 2006 represents a 57% decrease on the
755 cases received during 2005. Belfast accounted for 55% of all cases received.
Criminal injury disposals decreased from 1,840 in 2005 to 1,046 in 2006.

Table D.3: Criminal injuries received and disposed in 2006

Section 3: Licences

There were 219 licence applications received in the county court in 2006 and 209
licence applications disposed of.

Table D.4: Licences received and disposed in 2006

Section 4: Ordinary civil bills

There were 12,230 ordinary civil bills received in 2006. There were also 5,982
applications received during the same period. Belfast received 61% of ordinary civil bills
compared to 5% in Armagh and South Down.

Table D.5: Number of ordinary civil bill cases and applications received in 2006

The number of ordinary civil bills where NIDs were received dropped from 7,440 in
2005 to 7,135 in 2006, representing a 4% decrease in business (Table D.6).

Table D.6: Number of ordinary civil bill cases with NIDs received in 2006

The number of cases disposed of decreased by 14%, from 11,155 cases in 2005
compared to 9,596 in 2006. Of the ordinary civil bills disposed of, 18% were default
judgements. A further 20% were disposed of at district judge level compared to 43%
disposed of at county court judge level.

Table D.7: Number of ordinary civil bills cases and applications disposed in 2006

Table D.8 shows the amount awarded for ordinary civil bills during 2006. Almost a
quarter of civil bills (23%) were awarded between £1000-2999.

Table D.8: Number of ordinary civil bills cases by amount awarded in 2006

Excludes cases that were adjourned generally, withdrawn, dismissed, default judgements or had office disposals

On average, it took 45 weeks from date of issue to date of disposal for civil bills to
progress through the county court (Table D.9).

Table D.9: Time intervals in weeks for civil bill cases disposed of in 2006

Excludes default judgements office disposals and all cases dealt with by the Civil Processing Centre.
Due to rounding, individual times may not equal the overall time taken to progress through the courts

Table D.10: Time intervals in weeks for civil bill applications disposed of in 2006

Excludes default judgements, office disposals and all applications dealt with by the Civil Processing Centre.
Due to rounding, individual times may not equal the overall time taken to progress through the courts

Section 5: Equity

There were 73 equity cases and 61 equity applications received during 2006.

Table D.11: Equity cases and applications received in 2006

Table D.12 shows that there were 214 equity cases disposed of in 2006. Three-fifths of
equity cases were disposed of at county court judge level (60%). A lower percentage of
equity cases were disposed of at district judge level (26%) and by office disposal (14%).

Table D.12: Equity cases and applications disposed in 2006

Table D.13 shows the time intervals for equity case and applications from date of issue
to date of disposal for each county court division. On average, for cases disposed of
during 2006, it took 63 weeks for an equity case to progress through the county courts.

Table D.13: Time intervals in weeks for equity cases disposed of in 2006

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

Section 6: Ejectment

In total, there were 835 ejectment cases received during 2006, with 38% received in Belfast (Table D.14).

Table D.14: Ejectment cases received in 2006

During the year, 856 ejectment cases were disposed in the county court. Table D.15
shows that most were disposed at district judge level (92%) and 4% were disposed of at
county court judge level.

Table D.15: Ejectment cases disposed in 2006

Table D.16 shows the time in weeks for ejectment cases to progress through the courts
during 2006. On average, it took 15 weeks for a case from date of issue to date of
disposal.

Table D.16: Time intervals in weeks for ejectment cases disposed of in 2006

Excludes default judgements and office disposals
Due to rounding, individual time intervals may not equal the overall time taken to progress through the courts

Section 7: Small claims

Table D.17 shows that the number of small claims received decreased from 12,619
cases in 2005 to 11,711 cases in 2006. There were 202 applications received in small
claims during the year.

Table D.17: Number of small claims cases and applications received in 2006

Table D.18: Number of small claims cases with NODs received in 2006

In total, 9,845 small claims cases were disposed of in 2006. This is a decrease of 8%
on the 10,679 cases disposed of during 2005 (Table D.19).

Table D.19: Number of small claims cases and applications disposed in 2006

Table D.20 shows that during 2006, it took on average 18 weeks for a small claims
case to progress from date of issue to date of disposal.

Table D.20: Time intervals in weeks for small claims cases disposed of in 2006

Excludes default judgements, office disposals and all applications dealt with by the Civil Processing Centre.
Due to rounding, individual times may not equal the overall time taken to progress through the courts

Section 8: Divorce cases

There were 1,483 decrees nisi granted in undefended divorce cases in the county court
in 2006 (Table D.21). The number of decrees nisi has decreased by 3% from 2005 to
2006.

Table D.21: Divorce Petitions by type of decrees nisi in 2006

Table D.22: Divorce petitions by number of decrees absolute issued in 2006

Tables D.23 and D.24 show the number of matrimonial applications received and
disposed during 2006.

Table D.23: Matrimonial applications received in 2006

Table D.24: Matrimonial applications disposed of in 2006

County court divorce petitions took on average 34 weeks from date of issue to date
decree granted. Matrimonial applications also took on average 34 weeks to progress
through the county courts during 2006.

Table D.25: Time intervals in weeks for divorce petitions in 2006

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

Table D.26: Time intervals in weeks for divorce applications in 2006

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

Section 9: Court Sitting days and court sitting times

Table D.27 shows that there were 3,826 court sitting days in 2006.

Table D.27: County court sitting days and court sitting times in 2006

A court sitting day is counted as any day where the judiciary sit in court. It does not include time in chambers or days where
the judiciary are sitting in chambers.

Part E Magistrates’ Court

The magistrates’ court hears and determines less serious criminal cases, cases
involving youth and some civil and domestic cases including family proceedings.

Key facts during 2006

• 53,710 adult criminal defendants were disposed of
  
• 2,808 youth criminal defendants were disposed of
  
• 14,884 civil applicants were disposed of
  
• The average waiting time between 1st hearing and disposal for adult criminal cases was 7 weeks
  
• The average waiting time between 1st hearing and finding for youth criminal cases was 10 weeks

Figure E.1: Magistrates’ court adult and youth defendants disposed 2002-2006

Section 1: Business volumes received in the magistrates’ court

Caution should be used when comparing the 2006 magistrates’ figures with previous
years as differences in the figures could be due to changes in how the data was
collected in 2006. In 2006, there were 58,465 adult defendants received. In the youth
court, there were 2,768 defendants received (Table E.1).

Table E.1: Business volumes received in adult criminal, youth and civil courts in 2006.

Section 2: Adult criminal business disposed

There were 53,710 defendants disposed of in 2006. Belfast accounted for 29% of the
business while Craigavon division disposed of 9% of adult defendants (Table E.2).

Table E.2: Number of defendants disposed of in the adult magistrates’ court in 2006

Table E.3 shows the types of charges disposed of in 2006. As previously noted in 2006,
the data was based on two systems and caution should be taken when comparing
detail in the table and when comparing with previous years. In total, there were 114,996
charges disposed of in 2006.

Table E.3: Number and type of charges brought for defendants disposed of in 2006

Figures are based on the number of charges disposed
There is no category for hybrid charges on the old system
The class on the new system is based on the police classification. Major and minor motoring charges have been counted in either summary, indictable,
ITS or hybrid charges.

Table E.4 shows the outcomes of defendants disposed of in 2006. In 2006, the data
was based on two systems and caution should be taken when comparing detail in the
table and when comparing with previous years.

Tables E.4: Outcomes of defendants disposed of in 2006

Figures are based on the number of defendants disposed

Table E.5 shows there were 114,220 final orders granted in the magistrates’ adult court in 2006.

Table E.5: Types of disposals from the adult magistrate's courts in 2006

Figures are based on the number of final orders

The average waiting time for defendants dealt with in 2006 between the date of
summons/charge and the date of first hearing for the whole of Northern Ireland was 9
weeks. The waiting time between the date of first hearing and disposal averaged 7 weeks
for the whole of Northern Ireland (Table E.6).

Table E.6: Average waiting times in weeks for defendants disposed of in the adult magistrates’ court in 2006.

Figures based on adult defendants disposed of in 2006 and excludes defendants on bench warrants, adjourned generally and deferred sentences

Section 3: Youth criminal business disposed

In 2006, there were 2,808 youth defendants disposed of with 33% in Belfast and 6% in Armagh and South Down (Table E.7).

Table E.7: Number of defendants disposed of in the youth magistrates’ court in 2006

Table E.8 shows the types of charges disposed of in 2006 for youth defendants. In 2006,
the data was based on two systems and caution should be taken when comparing detail in
the table and when comparing with previous years. In total, there were 5,770 charges
disposed of in 2006.

Table E.8: Number and type of charges brought for youth defendants disposed of in 2006

Figures are based on the number of charges disposed
There is no category for hybrid charges on the old system
The class on the new system is based on the police classification. Major and minor motoring charges have been counted in either summary, indictable, ITS
or hybrid charges.

Table E.9 shows the outcomes of defendants disposed of in 2006. In 2006, the data was
based on two systems and caution should be taken when comparing detail in the table and
when comparing with previous years.

Table E.9: Outcomes of youth defendants disposed of in 2006

Figures are based on the number of defendants disposed

Table E.10 shows there were 5,657 final orders granted in the magistrates’ youth court in 2006.

Table E.10: Types of disposals from the youth magistrate's courts in 2006

Figures are based on the number of final orders

The average waiting time for youth defendants between the dates of summons/charge to
the date of first hearing for the whole of Northern Ireland in 2006 was 6 weeks. The
average waiting time between the date of first hearing and finding was 10 weeks for the
whole of Northern Ireland. The average waiting time from date of first hearing to date of
disposal was 13 weeks.

Table E.11: Average waiting times in weeks for youth defendants disposed of in the youth courts in 2006.

Figures based on youth defendants disposed of in 2006 and excludes defendants on bench warrants, adjourned generally and deferred sentences

Section 4: Civil business disposed

There were 14,884 applications disposed of during 2006 and just over one-third of these
were dismissed or withdrawn (34%) (Table E.12).

Table E.12: Number of civil applications disposed in the magistrates’ court in 2006

Of the 14,884 civil applications dealt with in 2006, 53% were debt and ejectment
applications. In total, 38% of debt and ejectment applications were withdrawn. There were
3,334 applications for non-molestation orders, 355 applications for occupation orders, and
1,068 combination occupation and non-molestation orders dealt with. Of these family
homes and domestic violence applications, 25% of applications were withdrawn, and 12%
were granted orders by consent (Table E.13).

Table E.13: Outcome of case by application type for applications disposed of in the magistrates’ court in 2006

Section 5: Court sittings and court sitting times

Table E.14 and E.15 show the number of scheduled, additional and special court sittings
and court sitting times in the magistrates’ court in 2006. There were 3,981 scheduled and
additional court sittings in the magistrates’ court and the average court sitting time was
3:25. The average court sitting time for special courts was 48 minutes.

Table E.14: Scheduled and additional sittings & average sitting times in the magistrates’ courts by division & venue in 2006

A court sitting day is counted as any day where the judiciary sit in court. It does not include time in chambers or days where the judiciary are sitting in chambers.

Table E.15: Special sittings & average sitting times in the magistrates’ courts by division & venue in 2006

A court sitting day is counted as any day where the judiciary sit in court. It does not include time in chambers or days where the judiciary are sitting in chambers.

Part F Children Order

Children’s order business is conducted before the Family Proceedings Courts, the Family Care Centres and the High Court.

Key facts during 2006

• 5,494 total applications were lodged
  
• 5,099 total applications were disposed
  
• 3,868 children were involved
  
• 5,364 orders were made
  
• 1,554 children’s order court sitting days with an average time of 2:16

Figure F.1: Public and private law applications entered 2002 - 2006

Section 1: Applications entered and disposed

Tables F.1 and F.2 show that a total of 5,494 applications were received in
designated courts in 2006. The majority of business (91%) was lodged in
Family Proceedings Courts, with 3% lodged in the High Court and 6% lodged
in Family Care Centres and County Court. Of the 5,099 applications disposed,
the High Court accounted for 3% of all business dealt with, Care Centres for
5% and Family Proceedings / Magistrates Court for 92%.

Table F1: Applications received and disposed in 2006

Private law = residence, contact, specific issues, prohibited steps, parental responsibility, financial contribution, guardianship, family
assistance, non-molestation and occupation orders

Table F.2: Applications entered and disposed by venue in 2006

[1] Private law = residence, contact, specific issues, prohibited steps, parental responsibility, financial contribution, guardianship,
family assistance, non-molestation and occupation orders.
[2] Ballymena also sits at Antrim, Coleraine and Larne.

Section 2: Reasons for transfer

Complexity accounted for 44% of the reasons quoted for the transfer of cases
between courts (Table F.3).

Table F3: Reasons for transfer in 2006

Where a court tier / venue is omitted, this indicates a nil return for the period to date.
There may be more than one reason for each case.

Section 3: Own motion orders and interim orders

Contact permission accounted for the majority of own motion orders (62%)
followed by residence orders (17%) in 2006 (Table F.4).

Table F.4: Own motion orders granted in 2006

Out of the 7,612 interim orders made during 2006, 33% were interim care
orders and 49% were interim/short term contact permission orders (Table F.5)

Table F.5: Interim orders granted in 2006

Section 4: Outcome of applications

Tables F.6 and F7 show the number of orders and outcome of applications
made in 2006. Due to differences in systems, the orders made in the High
Court after roll of ICOS in 2005 are in Table F.7.

Table F.6: Outcome of applications in 2006

These figures do not include appeals or court disposals made as a result of C2 applications determined during currency of report

Table F.7: Outcome of applications –from ICOS in 2006

Section 5: Age and gender of children

There were a total of 3,868 children involved in Children Order cases during
2006. In total, 33% of these were aged 0-4 and 30% aged 5-8 (Table F.8).

Table F.8: Age and gender of children in applications disposed of in 2006

Section 6: Average time in weeks from lodgement to disposal by venue

The average disposal times for private law cases in 2006 was 33 weeks in the
High Court, 44 weeks in the Family Care Centres and 23 weeks in the Family
Proceedings Courts. Disposal times of cases in the High Court and the Family
Care Centres may include the time spent at the lower courts if cases were
transferred (Table F.9).

Table F.9: Average time in weeks from lodgement to disposal by venue in 2006

Forms have been altered to reflect the time taken at the court tier which determined these cases.
Some cases will have started before this change was introduced and consequently the time shown will include the time taken at the
first court tier.
Where a court tier / venue is omitted, this indicates a nil return for the period to date

Section 7: Court sitting days and court sitting times

Table F.10 shows the number of days where Children Order business was
heard in court. During 2006, the Family Proceedings Courts sat for over 2,372
hours, 68% of the total court sitting time for Children Order.

Table F.10: Court sitting days and court sitting times in 2006

A court sitting day is counted as any day where the judiciary sit in court. It does not include time in chambers or
days where the judiciary are sitting in chambers.

Part G Miscellaneous

This section covers the caseload from Enforcement of Judgments Office
(EJO), Social Security Commissioners and Child Support Commissioners and
Coroners Court.

Key facts during 2006

• 12,577 notices of intention to enforce were lodged
  
• 6,298 applications for enforcement were accepted
  
• 210 applications for leave to appeal to the Commissioners were lodged
  and 192 were cleared
  
• 73 appeals to the Commissioners were lodged and 71 were cleared
  Figure G.1: Social Security Commissioners –Applications and Appeals Lodged 2002-
  2006