Civil Justice Statistics Quarterly October to December 2014 (excluding family cases)

We've had a quick peek at the MoJ's latest quarterly civil justice statistics. The document runs to over 30 pages so we've just picked out some interesting bits to share with you (yes really!  If you're not keen on a lot of figures just read the next two paragraphs) .

Headline figures reveal

• an upward trend in the volume of civil proceedings being issued,
• the dominance of money claims and
• an increase in the proportion of parties being legally represented.

The costs incurred in bringing and defending claims is not considered however all of these headlines support the need for legal expenses which will become even more acute when proposed increases to court fees go live.

Civil cases are those that do not involve family matters or failure to pay council tax. These cases are mainly dealt with by county courts and typically relate to debt, the repossession of property, personal injury, the return of goods and insolvency. Particularly important, complex or substantial cases are instead dealt with in the High court.

In October to December 2014,

·   379,000 civil claims were made (1% higher than same quarter last year),

·   96,000 judgements were made (15% higher respectively than same quarter last year).

·   46,142 defences were made

Claim types

In the most recent quarter, 82% of all claims were money claims, compared with 77% in the same quarter in 2013. There were 69,327 non-money claims.

Claim values

Of defended claims
·      almost half (17,170) were allocated to the small claim track (<£10,000 in dispute)
·      39% (13,774) were allocated to the fast track (>£10,00< £25,000)
·      12% (4,414) were allocated to the multi track, (>£25,000)

 In 2014

·       In 2014 as a whole there were 829,000 judgements (up 25% on 2013). The increase is due to the combination of an increase in claims and a decrease in claims being defended, leading to more default judgements occurring.

·       Both the claimant and defendant had legal representation in 71% of defences (compared to 65% in 2013).

·       This is driven by defences of specified money claims, which account for 55% of all defences and in almost all such defences (97%), both sides were legally represented.

·       Neither the respondent nor the claimant had representation in 14% of defences,

·       In 2014 the number of non-money claims was 312,623.

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