Judicial Statistics

Index

Introduction
Part A: The Court of Appeal
Part B: The High Court
Part C: Crown Court
Part D: County Court
Part E: Magistrates’ Courts
Part F: Children Order
Part G Miscellaneous
Appendix 1: Judge court 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 Lords 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 three Lords Justices of Appeal along with ten High Court Judges and two temporary 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 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.

The County Court: 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. The county court also has 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 court. 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.

The Magistrates’ Court: 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 Magistrate¹ 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.

¹ Resident Magistrates are referred to as District Judges (Magistrates’ Courts) effective from 2 June 2008).

Coroners’ Court: 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 Commissioners: 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

There are a number of databases that are used to carry out the analysis in this report. As these are current databases, the figures here are taken at a cut off point of the 31 March 2008.

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 2005.

During 2006, ICOS was introduced in the Crown Court and criminal magistrates’ court and these sections have been completed from the information extracted from ICOS. Caution should be taken when comparing figures prior to 2006.

During 2007, the civil and family module of ICOS was completed. This affects the information in the civil and family magistrates’ court section and also in the Children Order section. 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 2007 figures and previous years, please contact the NICtS.

The Court Structure in Northern Ireland

Part A: The Court of Appeal

The Court of Appeal is divided into civil and criminal. It hears appeals from decisions in the High Court and against convictions and sentences passed by the Crown Court and cases stated from other court tiers. It also hears appeals from tribunals and outside bodies.

Key facts during 2007

47 criminal appeals were lodged in the Court of Appeal
51 criminal appeals were disposed of in the Court of Appeal
11 criminal appeals were successful
94 civil appeals were set down in the Court of Appeal
91 civil appeals were disposed of in the Court of Appeal

Figure A.1 Criminal appeals lodged and disposed of from 2003-2007

Section 1: Criminal appeals

The number of criminal appeals lodged in 2007 decreased from 63 in 2006 to 47 in 2007 (Table A.1).

Table A.1: Criminal appeals lodged and disposed of in 2007

There were 27 appeals lodged against sentence only, 6 were against conviction while the remaining 14 were against both conviction and sentence. Of the 47 appeals lodged during 2007, 6 resulted from trials dealing with scheduled offences (Table A.2).

Table A.2: Types of criminal appeal lodged in 2007

There were 11 successful appeals in 2007 with 10 appeals refused, and 17 appeals abandoned or withdrawn (Table A.3).

Table A.3: Results of criminal appeals by type in 2007

Section 2: Civil appeals

There were 94 civil appeals set down in 2007, 3 more than the 2006 total of 91. As in previous years, the main source of civil appeals was the Queen’s Bench Division of the High Court with 37 cases set down. A total of 91 appeals were disposed of during the year (Table A.4).

Table A.4: Appeals set down and disposed of by origin and type in 2007

Section 3: Court sitting times

The number of court sitting days spent on criminal appeals (by majority type of work) decreased from 158 days in 2006 to 57 days in 2007. A total of 97 hours were spent in court hearing criminal appeals in 2007 compared with 406 court hours in 2006. There were 83 court sitting days (by majority type of work) spent on civil appeals during 2007 compared with 140 in 2006. A total of 164 hours were spent in court hearing civil appeals in 2007 compared with 362 court hours during 2006 (Figure A.2 & Table B.40).

Figure A.2 Number of court sitting days (majority days) in the Court of Appeal from 2003-2007

Part B: The 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 2007

2,212 mortgage applications were entered in Chancery
3,485 bankruptcy proceedings were entered
3,064 bankruptcy proceedings were disposed of
350 companies proceedings were disposed of
5,088 writs and originating summonses were received
564 judgments by default were entered
3,017 divorce petitions were filed in the High Court
3,724 applications for bail were received

Figure B1: Queen's Bench writs and originating summons disposals in 2007

Section 1: Chancery

Table B.1 shows that during 2007, a total of 2,652 Chancery writs and originating summonses were issued. Mortgage suits continue to account for the majority (83%) of writs and originating summonses issued. The number of mortgages received has decreased by 12% during 2007. (2,523 in 2006 compared to 2,212 in 2007).

Table B.1: Chancery cases and applications received in 2007

There were 1,977 cases and applications disposed of in 2007. Mortgages accounted for the majority of disposals with 1,263 cases disposed of. (Table B.2).

Table B.2: Chancery cases and applications disposed of in 2007

Section 2: Bankruptcy

There were 3,485 bankruptcy proceedings issued in 2007. These included 1,853 bankruptcy petitions, 75% of which were creditor petitions (Petition by another person). Other bankruptcy proceedings included 142 originating applications and 1,000 ordinary applications (Table B.3).

Table B.3: Bankruptcy cases and applications received in 2007

The Master dealt with a total of 3,058 bankruptcy proceedings. The main area of work disposed of by the Master was bankruptcy petitions, a total of 1,797 (Table B.4).

Table B.4: Bankruptcy cases and applications disposed of in 2007

Section 3:

Table B.5 and B.6 show the companies’ proceedings entered and disposed of for 2007. There were 426 companies’ proceedings received and 350 disposed of.

Table B.5: Companies cases and applications received in 2007

Table B.6: Companies cases and applications disposed of in 2007

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 35 weeks from date of issue to date of disposal compared to 11 weeks for a bankruptcy case and 14 weeks for a companies case.

Table B.7: Average time intervals in weeks in 2007

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 9,425 Queen’s Bench cases and applications received during 2007, 54% of these were made up of writs and originating summonses. There has been a 16% increase in the number of writs received from 4,399 in 2006 to 5,088 in 2007 (Table B.8).

Table B.8: Queen's Bench cases and applications received in 2007

Table B.9 shows the breakdown of the amount claimed in writs and originating summonses in 2007.

Table B.9: Queen's Bench writs and originating summonses received by amount claimed in 2007

There were 1,942 Queen’s Bench writs (excluding commercial actions) set down for trial during 2007 (Table B.10).

Table B.10: Queen's Bench writs and originating summonses setdown by amount claimed in 2007

There were 1,738 writs dealt with in court and 756 writs disposed of as office disposals. Actions set down as negligence constituted 41% of writs disposed of (Table B.11).

Table B.11: Queen's Bench cases and applications disposed of in 2007

Excludes commercial actions

Of the 2,302 writs disposed of, 40% were for over £15,000 (Table B.12).

Table B.12: Queen's Bench writs and originating summonses disposed by amount in 2007

Excludes commercial actions

Tables B.13 and B.14 show the number of commercial actions set down and disposed of. During 2007, 99 actions were entered in the commercial list. In total, 134 cases were disposed of with 129 of these disposed of by a High Court Judge.

Table B.13: Queen's Bench commercial actions setdown in 2007

Table B.14: Queen's Bench commercial actions disposed of in 2007

In 2007, the average length of time for a writ from first listing to disposal was 31 weeks (Table B.15).

Table B.15: Average time intervals in weeks in 2007

Excludes default judgements and office disposals
Due to rounding and not all writs and originating summonses having a set-down date, individual time intervals may not equal the overall time taken to progress through the courts

Section 5: Judicial Review

Tables B.16 to B.18 are in relation to Judicial Review. There were 95 applications for leave to apply for Judicial Review granted (46%). Of the 132 applications for Judicial Review that were disposed in 2007, 19% were granted.

Table B.16: Judicial Review applications received in 2007

Table B.17: Judicial Review applications disposed of in 2007

In 2007, the average length of time from issue to disposal of applications for Judicial Review was 47 weeks (Table B.18).

Table B.18: Average time intervals in weeks in 2007

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:

The number of grants of probate issued during 2007 increased by 7% from 5,626 in 2006 to 6,019 in 2007 (Table B.19).

Table B.19: Probate grants issued in non-contentious proceedings in 2007

Section 7: Matrimonial

The number of divorce petitions filed decreased by 3%, from 3,105 in 2006 to 3,017 in 2007 (Table B.20).

Table B.20: Divorce petitions received in 2007

There were 1,134 decrees nisi granted in the High Court during 2007, an increase of 1% on the 1,124 granted during 2006. The most common ground for dissolution continued to be separation (2 years with consent) accounting for 38% of all cases (Table B.21).

Table B.21: Divorce petitions by type of decree in 2007

Table B.22: Divorce petitions by number of absolutes issued in 2007

During 2007, there were 1,425 matrimonial applications received. In total, 45% of applications were for ancillary relief (Table B.23).

Table B.23: Matrimonial applications received in 2007

Of the 1,197 matrimonial applications disposed of during 2007, 544 (45%) were for ancillary relief (Table B.24).

Table B.24: Matrimonial applications disposed of in 2007

The average time from the issue of a petition to the date the decree was granted was 41 weeks (Table B.25).

Table B.25: Average time intervals in weeks for divorce petitions in 2007

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

During 2007, the average time from issue to disposal of a matrimonial application was 9 weeks. Applications for ancillary relief took on average 51 weeks from date of issue to date of disposal (Table B.26).

Table B.26: Average time intervals in weeks for divorce applications in 2007

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

Section 8: Wardship and Adoption

During 2007, adoption order applications accounted for 61% of the total applications received (Table B.27).

Table B.27: Adoption cases and applications received in 2007

Of the cases disposed, 91% were disposed of by a High Court Judge. The majority of applications disposed of (66%) were adoption order applications (Table B.28).

Table B.28: Adoption cases and applications disposed of in 2007

Ex-parte applications for occupation/non-molestation orders accounted for 53% 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 2007

The Master disposed of 97% of the total number of Family Homes and Domestic Violence cases and applications during 2007. Table B.30 shows that 54% of these cases were exparte.

Table B.30: Family Homes and Domestic Violence cases and applications disposed in 2007

Table B.31 shows the average time in weeks for adoption and Family Homes and Domestic Violence cases and applications during 2007. It took on average 30 weeks for an adoption case from date of issue to date of disposal.

Table B.31: Average time intervals in weeks in 2007

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 795 patients referred to the Office of Care and Protection in 2007 for investigation under the Mental Health Order, representing a 3% decrease on the 2006 total of 821 patients. The total live caseload for 2007 was 1,357 (Table B.32).

Table B.32: Office of Care and Protection – Mental Health proceedings in 2007

Section 10: Official Solicitor’s Office

Tables B.33 and B.34 demonstrate the caseload of the Official Solicitor’s Office. There were 444 live patient cases and 245 current minors’ cases in 2007.

Table B.33: Official Solicitor’s Office – Patients caseload in 2007

Table B.34: Official Solicitor’s Office – Minors’ caseload in 2007²

² Current cases only include those where specific actions are actively being taken to progress matters. These cases are recorded as ‘disposed of’ when the said actions have come to an end. A minor’s case is closed when he/she reaches the age of 18yrs.

Section 11: Masters’ appeals

There were 66 Masters’ appeals received and 69 Masters’ appeals disposed of in 2007 (Tables B.35 and B.36).

Table B.35: Masters’ appeals received in 2007

Table B.36: Masters’ appeals disposed in 2007

Section 12:

There were 3,724 applications for bail in the High Court during 2007. Of the 2,418 applications disposed in court, 54% were granted (Tables B.37 and B.39).

Table B.37 Number of bail applications received in 2007

Table B.38 Number of bail applications disposed of in chambers 2007

Table B.39 Number of bail applications disposed of in court 2007

Section 13: Court sitting days and court sitting times

High Court Judges sat on a total of 2,559 court sitting days, an increase of 11% on the 2,296 days sat during 2006. By majority type of work, High Court Judges sat for a total 507 days hearing Queen’s Bench business and 608 in the Crown Court (Table B.40).

Table B.40 High Court Judges court sitting days and court sitting times in 2007 (hrs : mins)

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 2007

1,436 Crown Court cases were received
1,431 Crown Court cases were disposed of
There were a total of 1,818 defendants disposed of
The average time from committal to start of trial was 113 days (16 weeks)

Figure C.1: Number of cases received and disposed of in the Crown Court from 2003-2007

Section 1: Cases received and disposed of

Tables C.1 show the number of cases received in 2007. There were 1,436 cases received in 2007 compared to 1,267 in 2006, an increase of 13%. In 2007, there were 1,431 cases disposed of, a 13% increase from the 1,269 in 2006 as shown in Table C.2.

Table C.1: Crown Court cases received in 2007

Table C.2: Crown Court cases disposed of in 2007

Table C.3 Defendants committed to Crown Court in 2007

There were a total of 1,818 defendants disposed of during 2007. This is an increase of 18% compared to the 1,543 defendants disposed of in 2006. (Table C.4)

Table C.4: Crown Court defendants disposed of in 2007

Section 2: Crown Court waiting times

The average waiting time between committal to start of trial was 113 days (Table C.5).

Table C.5: Average waiting time in days in 2007

[1] Excludes defendants who had a bench warrant or deferred sentence

Section 3: Defendants disposed of

The majority of defendants were disposed of by a County Court Judge (94%). (Table C.6)

Table C.6: Crown Court defendants disposed of by judge type in 2007

Table C.7: Crown Court defendants disposed of by charge type

In total, 42% of defendants made a plea of guilty on all charges and 16% were acquitted on all charges. (Table C.8).

Table C.8: Outcome of Crown Court defendants in 2007

Section 4: Crown Court sittings and times

There were 2,684 sittings in the Crown Court in 2007. The total time spent on Crown Court business has increased by 3% from 2006.

Table C.9: Crown Court sittings and total Crown Court time (hrs : mins)

Crown Court sittings refer to a sitting where any Crown Court business is heard.
Total Crown time includes all time spent on Crown business.
High Court Judges & county court judges sit on Crown business.

Part D County Court

The county court deals 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 2007

2,868 appeals were disposed of
54 criminal damage cases were received
6,583 ordinary civil bills had Notice of Intention to Defend
9,816 ordinary civil bills were disposed of
12,938 small claims were received
10,866 small claims were disposed of
1,851 decrees nisi were granted

Figure D.1: Number of ordinary civil bills received in 2007

Section 1: Appeals from magistrates' courts

There were a total of 3,026 appeals received during 2007 (Table D.1) and 2,868 appeals were disposed of in the county court during 2007 (Table D.2). County Court Appeals were recorded on ICOS during 2007 and caution should be taken when comparing with previous years.

Table D.1: Appeals received in 2007

Table D.2: Appeals disposed of in 2007

Tables D.3 to D.5 show the result of appeals against conviction and sentence, sentence only and civil appeals. The vast majority of appeals (99%) dealt with in court were criminal cases, only 1% were civil cases. Of the criminal appeals, 68% were against sentence only and 32% were against conviction and sentence.

Table D.3: Number of magistrates’ court appeals against conviction and sentence in 2007

Table D.4 Number of magistrates’ court appeals against sentence only in 2007

Table D.5 Number of magistrates’ court civil appeals in 2007

Section 2: Criminal damage cases

There were 54 criminal damage cases received during 2007. Belfast accounted for 57% of all cases received. Table D.7 shows that there were 42 criminal damage cases disposed of in 2007.

Table D.6: Number of criminal damage cases and applications received in 2007

Table D.7: Number of criminal damage cases and applications disposed of in 2007

Table D.8: Time intervals in weeks (average) for criminal damage cases and applications disposed of in 2007

Excludes default judgements, non-court disposals, and office disposals.

Section 3: Licences

There were 331 licence applications received in the county court in 2007 and 263 licence applications disposed of.

Table D.9: Licences received and disposed of in 2007

Section 4: Ordinary civil bills

There were 12,604 ordinary civil bills received in 2007. There were also 5,442 applications received during the same period. Belfast received 65% of ordinary civil bills compared to 4% in Armagh and South Down.

Table D.10: Number of ordinary civil bill cases and applications received in 2007

The number of ordinary civil bills where Notices of Intention to Defend were received dropped from 7,135 in 2006 to 6,583 in 2007, representing an 8% decrease in business (Table D.11).

Table D.11: Number of ordinary civil bill cases with Notice of Intention to Defend by judicial level in 2007

The number of cases disposed of increased by 2%, from 9,596 cases in 2006 compared to 9,816 in 2007. Of the ordinary civil bills disposed of, 19% were default judgements. A further 22% were disposed of at district judge level compared to 37% disposed of at county court judge level.

Table D.12: Number of ordinary civil bills cases and applications disposed of in 2007

CCJ and DJ split based on the judicial level assigned to the final sitting date, ie CCJ will include DJ sitting as a DCCJ

Table D.13 shows the amount awarded for ordinary civil bills during 2007. Just over a quarter of civil bills (26%) were awarded between £1000-2999.

Table D.13: Number of ordinary civil bills cases by amount awarded in 2007

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

On average, it took 46 weeks from date of issue to date of disposal for civil bills to progress through the county court (Table D.14).

Table D.14: Average time intervals in weeks for civil bill cases disposed of in 2007

Excludes default judgements, non-court disposals, office disposals and cases dealt with by the Civil Processing Centre.

Table D.15: Average time intervals in weeks for civil bill applications disposed of in 2007

Excludes default judgements, non-court disposals, office disposals and cases dealt with by the Civil Processing Centre.

Section 5: Equity

There were 284 equity cases and 103 equity applications received during 2007.

Table D.16: Equity cases and applications received in 2007

Table D.17 shows that there were 211 equity cases disposed of in 2007. The majority of equity cases were disposed of in court (90%).

Table D.17: Equity cases and applications disposed of in 2007

Table D.18 shows the time intervals for equity cases and applications from date of issue to date of disposal for each county court division. On average, for cases disposed of during 2007, it took 59 weeks for an equity case to progress through the county courts.

Table D.18: Average time intervals in weeks for equity cases disposed of in 2007

Excludes default judgements, non-court disposals, and office disposals.

Section 6: Ejectment

In total, there were 1,127 ejectment cases received during 2007, with 42% received in Belfast (Table D.19).

Table D.19: Ejectment cases received in 2007

During the year, 937 ejectment cases were disposed of in the county court. The majority of ejectment cases were disposed of in court (95%).

Table D.20: Ejectment cases disposed of in 2007

Table D.21 shows the average time in weeks for ejectment cases to progress through the courts during 2007. On average, it took 14 weeks for a case from date of issue to date of disposal.

Table D.21: Average time intervals in weeks for ejectment cases disposed of in 2007

Excludes default judgements, non-court disposals, and office disposals.

Section 7: Small claims

Table D.22 shows that the number of small claims received increased from 11,711 cases in 2006 to 12,938 cases in 2007. There were 345 applications received in small claims during the year.

Table D.22: Number of small claims cases and applications received in 2007

Table D.23: Number of small claims cases with a Notice of Dispute received in 2007

In total, 10,866 small claims cases were disposed of in 2007. This is an increase of 10% on the 9,845 cases disposed of during 2006 (Table D.24).

Table D.24: Number of small claims cases and applications disposed of in 2007

Table D.25 shows that during 2007, it took on average 18 weeks for a small claims case to progress from date of issue to date of disposal.

Table D.25: Average time intervals in weeks for small claims cases disposed of in 2007

Excludes default judgements, non-court disposals, office disposals and cases dealt with by the Civil Processing Centre.

Section 8: Divorce cases

There were 1,851 decrees nisi granted in undefended divorce cases in the county court in 2007 (Table D.26). The number of decrees nisi granted has increased by 25% from 1,483 in 2006.

Table D.26: Divorce Petitions by type of decrees nisi in 2007

Table D.27: Divorce petitions by number of decrees absolute issued in 2007

Tables D.28 and D.29 show the number of matrimonial applications received and disposed of during 2007.

Table D.28: Matrimonial applications received in 2007

Table D.29: Matrimonial applications disposed of in 2007

County court divorce petitions took on average 33 weeks from date of issue to date decree granted. Matrimonial applications also took on average 34 weeks to progress through the county courts during 2007.

Table D.30: Average time intervals in weeks for divorce petitions in 2007

Table D.31: Average time intervals in weeks for divorce applications in 2007

Section 9: Court sitting days and court sitting times

Table D.32 shows that there were 4,043 court sitting days in 2007.

Table D.32: County court sitting days and court sitting times in 2007 (hrs : mins)

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’ Courts

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 2007

55,698 adult criminal defendants were disposed of
3,289 youth criminal defendants were disposed of
5,902 civil applications 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 of (2003-2007)

Section 1: Business volumes received in the magistrates’ court

In 2007, there were 56,501 adult defendants received. In the youth court, there were 3,436 defendants received (Table E.1).

Table E.1: Business volumes received in adult criminal, youth and civil courts in 2007.

Section 2: Adult criminal business disposed of

There were 55,698 defendants disposed of in 2007. Belfast accounted for 27% of the business, in contrast Craigavon division disposed of 9% of adult defendants (Table E.2).

Table E.2: Number of adult defendants disposed of in the magistrates' court in 2007

Table E.3 shows the types of charges disposed of in 2007. In total, there were 111,287 charges disposed of.

Table E.3: Number and type of charges brought for defendants disposed of in 2007

Figures are based on the number of charges disposed
The class on ICOS is based on the police classification. Major & minor motoring charges have been counted in either summary, indictable, indictable
triable summarily or hybrid.

Table E.4 shows the outcomes of defendants disposed of in 2007. 37% of defendants pleaded guilty on all charges.

Tables E.4: Outcomes of defendants disposed of in 2007

Figures are based on the number of final orders

Table E.5 shows there were 139,196 final orders granted in the magistrates’ adult court in 2007.

Table E.5: Types of disposals from the magistrates’ adult court in 2007

Figures are based on the number of final orders

The average waiting time in Northern Ireland for defendants disposed of in 2007 between the date of summons and the date of first hearing was 9 weeks. The waiting time between the date of first hearing and disposal averaged 7 weeks (Table E.6).

Table E.6: Average waiting times in weeks for adult defendants disposed of in the magistrates’ court in 2007.

Bench warrants, adjourned generally and deferred sentences are excluded

Section 3: Youth criminal business disposed of

In 2007, there were 3,289 youth defendants disposed of with 28% in Belfast and 6% in Armagh and South Down (Table E.7).

Table E.7: Number of defendants disposed of in the youth court in 2007

Table E.8 shows the types of charges disposed of in 2007 for youth defendants. In total, there were 6,892 charges disposed of in 2007.

Table E.8: Number and type of charges brought for youth defendants disposed of in 2007

Table E.9: Outcomes for youth defendants disposed of in 2007

Figures are based on the number of defendants disposed

Table E.10 shows there were 8,135 final orders granted in the magistrates’ youth court in 2007.

Table E.10: Types of disposals from the youth courts in 2007

Figures are based on the number of final orders

The average waiting time in Northern Ireland for youth defendants between the dates of summons to the date of first hearing in 2007 was 7 weeks. The average waiting time between the date of first hearing and finding was 10 weeks. The average waiting time from date of first hearing to date of disposal was 13 weeks. (Table E.11)

Table E.11: Average waiting times in weeks for youth defendants disposed of in the youth courts in 2007.

Bench warrants, adjourned generally, deferred sentences and youth monitored cases are excluded

Section 4: Civil & Family business disposed of

There were 5,902 applications disposed of during 2007. (Table E.12).

Table E.12: Number of civil & family applications disposed of in the magistrates’ court in 2007

The average waiting time for Northern Ireland in the civil and family magistrates’ court for the date of issue to first hearing was 3 weeks. The average waiting time from the date of first hearing to disposal was 4 weeks. (Table E.13).

Table E.13: Average waiting times in weeks in the civil and family magistrates’ courts in 2007.

Section 5: Court sittings and court sitting times

Tables E.14 and E.15 show the number of scheduled, additional and special court sittings and court sitting times in the magistrates’ court in 2007. There were 4,637 scheduled and additional court sittings in the magistrates’ court and the average court sitting time was 3hrs 36mins. The average court sitting time for special courts was 47 minutes.

Table E.14: Scheduled and additional sittings & average sitting times in the magistrates’ courts by division & venue in 2007 (hrs : mins)

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 2007 (hrs : mins)

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 Order business is conducted before the family proceedings courts, the family care centres and the High Court.

Key facts during 2007

4,313 total applications were lodged
3,869 total applications were disposed of
4,530 children were involved
8,641 orders were made
1,703 Children Order court sitting days with an average time of 2hrs 10mins

Figure F.1: Public and private law applications entered 2003 - 2007

Section 1: Applications entered and disposed of

Tables F.1 and F.2 show that a total of 4,313 applications were received in designated courts in 2007. The majority of business (91%) was lodged in family proceedings courts, with 5% lodged in the High Court and 4% lodged in family care centres. Of the 3,869 applications disposed of, the High Court accounted for 4% of all business dealt with, care centres for 8% and family proceedings / magistrates court for 88%.

Table F.1: Applications received and disposed of in 2007

Private law = residence, contact, specific issues, prohibited steps, parental responsibility, financial contribution, guardianship, family assistance, nonmolestation and occupation orders.
Public law = care, supervision, child assessment, education supervision, emergency protection orders, extensions, contact with children in care, secure accommodation.

Table F.2: Applications entered and disposed of by venue in 2007

[1] Private law = residence, contact, specific issues, prohibited steps, parental responsibility, financial contribution, guardianship, family assistance, nonmolestation and occupation orders.
[2]Public law = care, supervision, child assessment, education supervision, emergency protection orders, extensions, contact with children in care, secure accommodation
[3] Ballymena also sits at Antrim, Coleraine and Larne.

Section 2: Reasons for transfer

Complexity accounted for 27% of the reasons quoted for the transfer of cases between courts (Table F.3).

Table F.3: Reasons for transfer in 2007

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: Reasons for transfer

Care accounted for 39% of own motion orders followed by contact permission orders (20%) in 2007 (Table F.4).

Table F.4: Own motion orders³ granted in 2007

³ These figures may also involve an element of interim orders

Out of the 8,506 interim orders made during 2007, 35% were interim care orders and 48% were interim/short term contact permission orders (Table F.5)

Table F.5: Interim orders granted in 2007

Section 4: Outcome of applications

Tables F.6 and F7 show the number of orders and outcome of applications made in 2007. Due to differences in systems, the orders made on ICOS in 2007 are in Table F.7.

Table F.6: Outcome of applications in 2007

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

Table F.7: Final Orders Made - 2007

Section 5: Age and gender of children

There were a total of 4,530 children involved in Children Order cases during 2007. In total, 34% 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 2007

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

The average disposal times for private law cases in 2007 was 40 weeks in the High Court, 33 weeks in the family care centres and 21 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 2007

The time shown will include the time taken at the first court tier.

Section 7: Court sittings and court sitting times

Table F.10 shows the number of sittings where any Children Order business was heard in court. During 2007, the family proceedings courts sat for over 2,345 hours, 64% of the total court sitting time for Children Order.

Table F.10: Court sittings and court sitting times in 2007 (hrs : mins)

A court sitting 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.
Children Order sittings refer to a sitting where any Children Order business is heard.
Total Children Order time includes all time spent on Children Order business.
High Court Judges, county court judges and resident magistrates sit on Children Order business.

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 2007

7,362 notices of intention to enforce were lodged
4,708 applications for enforcement were accepted
189 applications for leave to appeal to the Commissioners were lodged and 197 were cleared
62 appeals to the Commissioners were lodged and 64 were cleared
211 inquests were held

Figure G.1: Social Security Commissioners – Applications and Appeals Lodged 2003-2007

Section 1: Enforcement of Judgments Office

Since the early 1970s, the task of enforcing civil judgments in Northern Ireland has been simplified by the creation of the Enforcement of Judgments Office (EJO), which operates under the supervision of the Master (Enforcement of Judgments), assisted by the Chief Enforcement Officer. In 2007, 7,362 notices of intention to enforce were lodged and 4,708 applications for enforcement were accepted (Table G.1).

Table G.1: Enforcement orders made and applications for enforcement in 2007

Table G.2 shows the ‘Debt Ratio’ which is the amount of debt recovered for every £1 paid in enforcement fees.

Table G.2: Money judgments and debt ratio in 2007

A possession file is deemed ‘completed’ when –

An eviction takes place.
The creditor withdraws their application.
An official arrangement between the creditor and debtor is made (these cases may be re-activated if the arrangement breaks down)

Table G.3 shows that during the year, 593 cases were completed.

Table G.3 Possession judgments in 2007

Section 2: Social Security Commissioners and Child Support Commissioners

There were 189 applications for leave to appeal to the Social Security Commissioners lodged during 2007, 21 less than the 210 lodged during 2006. There were 197 applications for leave cleared in 2007 compared to 192 cleared during 2006 (Table G.4).

Table G.4: Social Security Commissioners’ applications for leave to appeal to the Commissioners in 2007

The number of appeals to the Commissioners lodged decreased by 15% from 73 in 2006 to 62 in 2007. In total, 64 were cleared in 2007 compared with 71 in 2006 (Table G.5).

Table G.5: Social Security Commissioners’ appeals to the Commissioners in 2007

Table G.6 shows the number of applications to the Commissioners for leave to appeal to the Court of Appeal in 2007.

Section 3: Coroners' office

Table G.7 shows the Coroners’ caseload for 2007.

Table G.7: Coroners’ caseload in 2007

Appendix 1: Judge court sitting days

[1] Days are classified on the basis of the majority business undertaken
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