National statistics

Family Court Statistics Quarterly: October to December 2022

Published 30 March 2023

1. Main Points^{[footnote 1]}

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There were 24,273 divorce applications under the new legislation this quarter	New divorce legislation came into effect from 6th April. Between October to December 2022 there were 24,273 applications made (77% from sole applicants, 23% from joint applicants), including those for dissolution of civil partnerships. Since the new law came into effect, there were 89,123 divorce applications made (78% from sole applicants, 22% from joint applicants)
Increase in both domestic violence remedy applications and orders made.	The number of domestic violence remedy order applications increased by 3% compared to the equivalent quarter in 2021, while the number of orders made increased by 1% over the same period. There were 32,049 applications and 38,475 orders made throughout 2022, up 4% and a similar level respectively compared to 2021.
Adoption applications decrease while the number of orders increase	In October to December 2022 there were 965 adoption applications, down 9% on the equivalent quarter in 2021. Whereas, the number of adoption orders issued increased by 8% to 1,064. Annually, there were 3,978 applications and 3,988 orders for adoption in 2022, down 7% and 10% respectively from 2021.
Decrease in deprivation of liberty applications and increase in orders made.	There were 1,496 applications relating to deprivation of liberty in October to December 2022, down 11% on the equivalent quarter in 2021. Orders increased by 2% in the latest quarter compared to the same period last year. There were 6,265 applications and 2,699 orders relating to deprivation of liberty throughout 2022, similar to 2021 and down 29% respectively.
Increase in the proportion of applications for probate grants and probate grants issued made digitally	In October to December 2022, there were 55,065 applications for probate grants. 52,820 probate grants were issued in the same period. 87% of these applications and 89% of these grants issued were made digitally, compared to 83% of each in the same quarter in 2021. Annually there were 234,711 applications for probate grants and 221,820 probate grants issued in 2022, up 4% and 1% respectively from 2021.

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This publication presents statistics on activity in the family courts of England and Wales and provides figures for the latest quarter (October to December 2022) with additional commentary on annual changes between 2021 and 2022. For further information and technical details please refer to the accompanying Guide to Family Court Statistics.

For feedback related to the content of this publication, please let us know at familycourt.statistics@justice.gov.uk

1.1 Data Quality Issues

The rollout of reform in family courts has introduced a new data management system, Core Case Data (CCD), to collect family data. As each service area undergoes reform, existing cases stay on the legacy system FamilyMan (FM) until they are disposed or closed, while new cases are recorded on CCD with some key details copied back to FM.

Currently, family public law (FPL) is undergoing this reform process. However, not all details are copied across for FPL (such as substantive orders other than final). Until work is completed to amalgamate both FM and CCD, several published data series cannot be maintained.

These series have been removed from Q1 (Jan-Mar) 2022 onwards unless otherwise stated:

• The total number of public law disposals (Table 2), as well as public law orders and cases disposed for Q3 (Jul-Sep) and Q4 (Oct-Dec) 2022. As a result, the total number of cases disposed is not provided.

• The number of orders granted and children involved in orders granted by order type (Table 4)

• The number of public law cases started indicated as High Court (Table 7) for Q3 (Jul-Sept) 2022 and Q4 (Oct-Dec) 2022.

• Care and supervision proceedings timeliness (Table 8)

• Overall public law timeliness (Table 10)

• The number of Placement Order Applications for Q4 (Oct-Dec) 2022 (Table 18). As a result, the total number of cases started and the total number of applications under the Adoption and Children Act are not provided.

They will be reinstated once both data sources have been combined. The target for this to be corrected is June 2023 at the earliest, which includes data up to March 2023.

Data for divorce hearings for Q2 (Apr-Jun) 2022 onwards (Table 13) also cannot be maintained due to the capability of collecting the hearings data for new divorce law not yet being available and the limited reasons for contesting a divorce case within the new law.

2. Statistician’s comment

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During October to December 2022, there have been increases in matrimonial and domestic violence remedy cases starting; at the same time there have been some decreases in new public law, private law, and financial remedy cases. Closed cases have decreased in most areas, although there was a record high for closing domestic violence remedy cases, following the record levels of applications seen earlier in the pandemic.

Data on the divorce legislation introduced in April 2022 is expanded upon in this release, to include the number of final orders for the first time (previously known as decrees absolute). There were 7,453 final orders made in October to December (including for dissolution of civil partnerships), with the majority coming from sole applicants. There is a substantial drop of final orders/decrees absolute being made during October to December 2022 compared to the same period the previous year, most likely due to the new mandatory time periods introduced for new divorce cases. Old cases are taking substantially longer to finalise as the remaining few cases are dealt with.

Most timeliness measures have seen increases from the same period last year – in particular, the average time taken for a private law case to get a final order granted is at a record high, up nearly 5 weeks from the same period last year.

As the migration to an online public law service has rolled out, there continue to be key data issues to be handled. The main data source remains to be the existing FamilyMan system, with limited aggregate data available from the new Core Case Data (CCD) system for the new digital process. As a result, a number of data series regarding public law will not be updated until both FamilyMan and CCD are amalgamated (particularly impacting related timeliness metrics) – the target for this to be corrected is June 2023 at the earliest, which includes data up to March 2023.

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3. Overview of the Family Justice System

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During October to December 2022, there have been increases in matrimonial and domestic violence remedy cases starting; at the same time there have been decreases in new public law, private law and financial remedy cases. Closed cases have decreased in most areas, although there was a record high for closing domestic violence remedy cases, following the record levels of applications seen earlier in the pandemic.

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Figure 1: Cases started and disposed, by case type, January to March 2011 to October to December 2022 (Source: Table 1)

In 2022, there were decreases in most case type starts when comparing to the previous year: financial remedy (19%), private law (4%) and public law (2%) cases. However, there was an increase in matrimonial (11%) and domestic violence (3%) cases. Similarly, there were decreases in most case types disposed: matrimonial (29%), financial remedy (21%), adoption (15%), and private law (1%) cases. However, there was an increase in domestic violence cases disposed (5%).

Timeliness by Case Type

The average time for divorce and annulment cases to reach first disposal in October to December 2022 was 38 weeks– this includes both old and new divorce cases, with the former covering applications which would have been made some time ago, and the latter incorporating a 20-week wait between application and the conditional order. Private law cases also took longer, with the average time to first disposal in October to December 2022 taking 31 weeks, up 3 weeks compared to the same period in 2021. This is the highest average time for private law cases to reach first disposal in the time series.

Private law cases saw an increase between 2021 and 2022 of 4 weeks, taking the average to 30 weeks.

Domestic violence cases took an average of 1.5 weeks in October to December 2022, an increase of 0.5 weeks compared to the same period in 2021 and is the highest in the time series.

Public and private law cases – number of parties, and High Court cases

The vast majority of private law cases involve one applicant and one respondent only (Table 6). However, for public law cases whilst nearly all cases have only one applicant, 73% involve two or more respondents.

A very small proportion of private (1%) law cases started were indicated as being a High Court case during October to December 2022, consistent with the long-term trend (Table 7).

HMCTS monthly management information

The statistics in this publication focus on the period between October to December 2022; however, monthly management information (MI) has been published by HMCTS that covers up to January 2023. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/hmcts-management-information-january-2023. This MI is subject to the data quality issues associated with extracting data from large live administrative case management systems. Late reporting of cases and regular updating of case details, which can lead to the figures being updated to manage the case - more recent figures may therefore be subject to larger revisions and should be treated with greater care and considered provisional.

4. Children Act - Public Law

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Decrease in the number of public law case starts

There were 3,671 public law cases starting in October to December 2022, down 11% compared to the equivalent quarter in 2021.(Table 2).

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There were 6,217 individual children involved in new public law applications in October to December 2022, down 11% on the same quarter in the previous year, while the number of applications made decreased by 14%.

Annually, there were 16,058 public law cases started in 2022, down 2% from 2021. Applications were down 5% from 2021, with 16,451 in total involving 26,817 individual children.

Figure 2 shows the most common types of public law orders applied for and made in October to December 2022, illustrating the different pattern between the types of orders applied for and the orders that are given, i.e. an application for one type can result in an order of a different type being made.

Figure 2: Public law applications by order type, October to December 2022 (Source: Table 3)

5. Children Act - Private Law

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Decrease in the number of private law case starts and increase in the number of cases disposed

The number of private law cases^{[footnote 2]} started decreased by 1% (to 12,258) in October to December 2022 compared to the equivalent quarter in 2021. The number of applications made decreased by 2% over the same period.

The number of private law cases disposed of during October to December 2022 was up 4% on the equivalent quarter in 2021, with the number of disposals down by 4% (Table 2).

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There were 12,728 new private law applications made in October to December 2022, down 2% on the equivalent quarter in 2021, with 18,959 individual children involved in these applications.

The number of private law disposals in October to December 2022 was 39,724, down 4% on the equivalent quarter in 2021.

Annually, there were 52,204 private law cases started in 2022, down 4% from 2021, whilst the number of cases disposed decreased by 1% over the same period to 43,316. In 2022 there was a 4% decrease in private law applications compared to 2021.

Timeliness of Private law cases

In October to December 2022, it took on average 47 weeks for private law cases to reach a final order, i.e. case closure, up 5 weeks from the same period in 2021. This continues the upward trend seen since the middle of 2016, where the number of new cases overtook the number of disposals and is the highest in the time series. (Table 9).

Overall, it took 45 weeks on average for private law cases to reach final order during 2022, compared to 40 weeks in 2021.

Figure 3: Private law timeliness from case start date to final order in the family court, January to March 2011 to October to December 2022 (Source: Table 9)

6. Legal Representation

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Cases with legal representation take longer on average

In general, cases where either both parties or the respondent only had legal representation took longer to be disposed of than those cases where only the applicant was represented or where both parties were without legal representation (Table 10).

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Legal representation in Private law cases

The removal of legal aid for many private law cases in April 2013 resulted in a change in the pattern of legal representation over time^{[footnote 3]},^{[footnote 4]}. In October to December 2022, the proportion of disposals where neither the applicant nor respondent had legal representation was 40%, increasing by 27 percentage points since January to March 2013, and up 3 percentage points from October to December 2021.

Correspondingly, the proportion of cases where both parties had legal representation went from 41% in January to March 2013 to 18% in October to December 2022, and down 2 percentage points compared to the same period in 2021 (Figure 4).

For 2022 as a whole, the proportion of disposals in private law cases where neither the applicant nor the respondent had legal representation was 39%, whilst the proportion where both had legal representation was 19%. This was up 2 and down 2 percentage points respectively compared to 2021.

Figure 4: Proportion of private law disposals by type of legal representation of the parties, January to March 2012 to October to December 2022 (Source: Table 10)

The change seen in the pattern of legal representation is also demonstrated in private law cases with at least one hearing where the proportion of parties with legal representation stood at 59% in 2012 compared to 32% in 2022.

The proportion of parties with legal representation in cases with at least one hearing varies by case type and range from around 74% for public law cases to 3% for adoption cases, with figures subject to change as new cases progress (Table 11). Across the whole of 2022 the proportions were similar to the final quarter, with a range from around 77% for public law to 3% for adoption.

7. Divorce

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There were 24,273 divorce applications made between October and December 2022 under the new legislation

New divorce legislation came into effect from 6th April, which aims to reduce the potential for conflict amongst divorcing couples by:

• removing the ability to make allegations about the conduct of a spouse
• allowing couples to end their marriage jointly.

Between October to December 2022 there were 24,273 applications made (77% from sole applicants, 23% from joint applicants) (Table 12b). This was an increase of 5% from the same quarter in 2021.

Please note that the new divorce legislation introduced new terminology and new mandatory waiting periods at key stages. For further information, please see the guide that accompanies this publication.

There were 17,100 decrees absolute/final orders granted in October to December 2022, down 34% compared to the same quarter in 2021 (Table 12).

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Since the new law came into effect on 6th April 2022, there were 89,123 applications made (78% from sole applicants, 22% from joint applicants). There were also 21,507 conditional orders made under the new law and 7,453 final orders. (Table 12b).

Increase in the average time for all (old and new) divorce proceedings

In 2022, the mean average time from the date of petition to decree nisi/conditional order (80% granted under the new divorce legislation) was 38 weeks, up 13 weeks from 2021.

The mean average time from petition to decree absolute/final order (43% granted under the new divorce legislation) was 67 weeks, up 14 weeks from the same period in 2021 – these increases have been impacted by resourcing issues affecting paper cases which have led to backlogs. Also please note that, due to the mandatory waiting period between applying for divorce and applying for the conditional order (CO), this means that any new cases started since the 6th April 2022 would have had to have waited at least 20 weeks before getting to the CO stage. For cases applied for under the old law, our timeliness measure will be calculating durations for those cases which represent the tail end of cases applied for some time ago, and by definition this measure will be relatively high and will increase over time until all cases applied for under the old law are dealt with.

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Timeliness of divorce cases

Due to the mandatory waiting periods for the new divorce legislation, we will not be commenting on timeliness for ‘new divorce’ cases in this section until there are substantial numbers of conditional/final orders made.

Digital divorce cases

For digital divorce cases (i.e. those dealt with the Courts and Tribunals Service Centres that are digital at all stages), there were 23,222 applications made during October to December 2022 (96% of the total, up from 85% in the same period of 2021). The average time to decree nisi/conditional order (92% granted under the new divorce legislation) for October to December 2022 was 29 weeks, and 43 weeks from petition to decree absolute/final order (60% granted under the new divorce legislation).

In 2022, digital divorce cases made up 94% of petitions/applications compared to 76% in 2021. Digital divorce cases also accounted for 78% of decree nisis/conditional orders and 68% of decree absolutes/final orders, up from 67% and 56% respectively the year before.

Figure 5: Divorce petitions made between Q1 2019 to Q4 2022, by case type (Source: Table 12)

8. Financial Remedy

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Decrease seen in financial remedy applications and disposals events

In October to December 2022, the number of financial remedy applications was down 6% and the number of disposal events was down 37% compared to the same period in 2021 (Table 14).

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There were 9,826 financial remedy applications made in October to December 2022, down 6% from the same period in 2021, while there were 7,646 financial remedy disposals events, down 37%. During this period, 70% of applications were uncontested and 30% were contested.

Across 2022 as a whole, there were 39,416 financial remedy applications, down 19% from 2021. Similarly, the number of financial remedy disposals was down 25% to 36,163.

Figure 6: Applications for financial remedy orders, January to March 2009 to October to December 2022 (Source: Table 14)

9. Domestic Violence Remedy Orders

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Increase in the number of domestic violence remedy applications, with minimal change in orders made

In October to December 2022, there was a 3% increase in applications made compared to the equivalent quarter in 2021. The number of orders made increased by by less than 1% over the same period (Table 15).

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In October to December 2022, there were 7,910 domestic violence remedy applications, up by 3% on the same quarter in 2021 requesting a total of 9,096 orders (multiple orders can be applied for in a single application). Most of the orders applied for were non-molestation orders (84%) compared to occupation orders (16%); these proportions have remained relatively consistent in recent years. Applications for non-molestation orders in October to December 2022 were up, by 3% whereas applications for occupation orders were down, by 5% respectively, compared to the same period in 2021.

There were 9,494 domestic violence orders made in October to December 2022, similar to the same period last year. 94% were non-molestation orders and 6% were occupation orders, with non-molestation orders up by 2% and occupation orders down by 10% compared to the equivalent quarter in 2021.

Across the year as a whole, there were record numbers of domestic violence remedy applications. In 2022, 32,049 applications were made for domestic violence remedies, up 4% compared to 2021 requesting a total of 36,858 orders. There were 38,475 orders made, similar to the previous year. Non-molestation orders formed 84% of orders applied for and 95% of orders made, whilst occupation orders comprised 16% and 5% of the totals respectively.

Figure 7: Domestic violence remedy orders applied for, January to March 2009 to October to December 2022 (Source: Table 15)

10. Forced Marriage Protection Orders and Female Genital Mutilation Protection Orders

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Long term upward trend in the number of forced marriage protection orders and female genital mutilation protection orders (Table 16 and 17).

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The number of applications and orders made for forced marriage protection orders (FMPOs) is very small. Consequently, numbers fluctuate each quarter but overall there has been a long term upward trend from their introduction in November 2008.

In October to December 2022, there were 75 applications, of which 79% of applications were for people aged 17 and under. Over the same period, there were 99 orders made, up 77% since the same period from the previous year.

In 2022, 266 applications were made for FMPOs, up 31% compared to 2021. There were 346 orders made, up 7% on the previous year.

The increase in the number of orders does not necessarily represent an increase in the prevalence of forced marriage, but potentially it relates to a greater awareness of forced marriage being a crime and the support available. The government have held events during 2019 with relevant groups (local authorities, police, charities etc.), designed specifically to raise awareness of FMPOs and how they can be used to protect those at risk. Historically the numbers of orders made outweigh the number of applications. Often there are multiple orders granted per case, where one application covers more than one person, and an order is granted for each person covered in the application. Extensions and increased provision of previous orders can also be granted as new orders, without the need for a new application to be submitted.

Figure 8: Applications and orders made for Forced Marriage Protection Orders, January to March 2009 to October to December 2022 (Source: Table 16)

As with FMPOs, the number of applications and orders made for female genital mutilation protection orders (FGMPOs) is very small, with only 16 applications and 19 orders made respectively in October to December 2022 (Table 17). In total, there have been 570 applications and 808 orders made up to end of December 2022, since their introduction in July 2015.

11. Adoptions

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Decrease in the number of adoption applications and an increase in orders made

During October to December 2022, there were 965 adoption applications made, down 9% from the equivalent quarter in 2021. Over the same period, the number of adoption orders issued increased by 8% to 1,064 (Tables 18 and 19).

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During 2022 there were 3,978 adoption order applications made, down 13% from 2021. This continues the downward trend seen in applications made since 2014. There were 3,988 adoption orders issued in 2022, down 10% compared to 2021.

There were 7,534 total disposals in 2022 which is down 15% compared to 2021. Total disposals during October to December 2022 decreased by 15% to 1,721 compared with the same period in 2021.

The chart below shows the trend of adoption orders by the type of adopter. This shows that during October to December 2022, 54% of all adoption orders were issued to mixed-sex couples, 20% to sole applicants, 18% to same-sex couples and 8% to step-parents.

Figure 9: Adoption orders issued, by adopter, January to March 2011 to October to December 2022 (Source: Table 19)

12. Mental Capacity Act - Court of Protection

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Decrease in applications with an increase in orders made in relation to deprivation of liberty

There were 1,496 applications relating to deprivation of liberty made in the most recent quarter, which is a decrease of 11% on the number made in the same quarter in 2021. However, there was an increase by 2% in the orders made for deprivation of liberty over the same period from 758 to 770.

A decrease in applications whilst orders increase under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA)

There were 7,319 applications made in October to December 2022, down by 19%. During the same period there were 12,107 orders made, up by 5%.

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Since the Supreme Court clarified the definition of deprivation of liberty in 2014, there has been a significant increase in the number of applications.There were 109 in 2013 which increased to a high of 6,286 in 2021. The total number of applications in 2022 was similar to the 6,286 deprivation of liberty applications in 2021. Deprivation of liberty orders saw a decrease compared to the previous year, down 29% to 2,699.

Figure 10: Deprivation of Liberty applications and orders, January to March 2008 to October to December 2022 (Source: Table 21)

In October to December 2022, there were 7,319 applications made under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA), down by 19% on the equivalent quarter in 2021 (9,027 applications). Of those, 33% related to applications for appointment of a property and affairs deputy (Table 20).

In comparison, there were 12,107 orders made under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA), up by 5% on the same quarter in 2021. Of those, 39% related to orders by an existing deputy or registered attorney (Table 21).

Applications by an existing deputy or registered attorney represented the highest proportion of orders made under the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) during 2022, totalling 40% of the 46,182 made throughout the year. The total number of orders made in 2022 was down 4% compared to 2021.

13. Mental Capacity Act - Office of the Public Guardian

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Continuing increasing trend annually in Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPAs) with a fall this quarter

In October to December 2022, there were 176,062 LPAs registered, down 6% compared to the equivalent quarter in 2021 (Table 22).

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In total there were 177,182 Powers of Attorney (POAs) registered in October to December 2022, down 6% from the same quarter in 2021 (Table 22). Lasting Power of Attorney (LPAs) made up 99% of POAs registered in October to December 2022, with Enduring Powers of Attorney (EPAs) making up the other 1%. There were 1,120 EPAs registered in October to December 2022, down 5% on the equivalent quarter in 2021.

Annually, there were 771,822 LPAs registered in 2022, up 9% compared to the previous year. There were 5,919 EPAs in 2022, down 13% on 2021. In total, there were 777,741 Powers of Attorney in 2022, up 9% from the year before

The sharp increase in LPAs seen during 2015 and 2016 was largely due to increased publicity and the new online forms introduced in July 2015 making it simpler and faster to apply.

Figure 11: Powers of attorney registered, January to March 2008 to October to December 2022 (Source: Table 22)

14. Probate Service

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Increase in both the proportion of digital applications for probate grants and probate grants issued digitally

In October to December 2022, there were 55,065 applications for probate grants. 52,820 probate grants were issued in the same period. 87% of these applications and 89% of these grants issued were made digitally, compared to 83% of each in the same quarter in 2021 (Table 23).

Probate grants issued more quickly than other grants of representation

Probate grants took approximately 8 weeks to be issued after the application was submitted during October to December 2022. Letters of administration with a will and without a will took around 22 and 16 weeks respectively (Table 24).

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There were 67,213 applications made for grants of representation in October to December 2022. 55,065 (82%) of these were for probate grants, of which 87% were made digitally (Table 23).

Probate grants also make up the majority (82%) of all grants issued. In October to December 2022, 62% of the grants issued were applied for by legal professionals and 38% were personal applications (Table 23). For the 52,820 probate grants issued in the same period, 89% were issued digitally.

During 2022, there were 291,941 applications made for grants of representation, up 3% on 2021. There was a total of 269,767 grants of representation issued, down 1% on 2021. Probate grants made up 82% of all the grants of representation issued in 2022.

Annually there were 234,711 applications for probate grants and 221,820 probate grants issued in 2022, up 4% and by less than 1% respectively from 2021.

Timeliness of probate grants

The average time from application submission to grant issue for probate grants was 8 weeks (median average 5 weeks) overall. Averages for letters of administration with a will and without a will were 22 and 16 weeks respectively for October to December 2022 (Table 24).

Timeliness of grants issued can be affected if the case has been ‘stopped’ for any reason (which can occur when there’s a dispute about either who can apply for probate or issues with a will or proposed will, or if an error is identified and a request for further information made). Probate grants that were stopped during October to December 2022 took 18 weeks on average to be issued, compared to 4 weeks for those that were not stopped.

When looking at the time from document receipt (i.e. when payment has been made and the application and all accompanying documents are ready for examination) to grant issue, this is around 1.5 weeks quicker than the average time from application submission for probate grants.

Figure 12: Average (mean) time for grants of representation issued from application submission by the Probate Service, July to September 2019 to October to December 2022 (Source: Table 24)

When a probate case is contested, the Chancery Division of the High Court deals with the matter. In 2022 there were 117 contested probate cases, up from 105 cases in 2021.

15. Further information

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The data presented in this publication are from live administrative databases. Therefore, previously published data is liable to be updated in the latest bulletin, following any further data cleaning or the incorporation of additional cases not available in the extracts used to produce previous bulletins.

Accompanying files

As well as this bulletin, the following products are published as part of this release:

• A technical guide providing further information on how the data is collected and processed, as well as information on the revisions policy and legislation relevant to family court and background on the functioning of the family justice system

• A set of overview tables and CSV files, covering each section of this bulletin

National Statistics status

National Statistics status means that official statistics meet the highest standards of trustworthiness, quality and public value.

All official statistics should comply with all aspects of the Code of Practice for Official Statistics. They are awarded National Statistics status following an assessment by the Authority’s regulatory arm. The Authority considers whether the statistics meet the highest standards of Code compliance, including the value they add to public decisions and debate.

It is the Ministry of Justice’s responsibility to maintain compliance with the standards expected for National Statistics. If we become concerned about whether these statistics are still meeting the appropriate standards, we will discuss any concerns with the Authority promptly. National Statistics status can be removed at any point when the highest standards are not maintained, and reinstated when standards are restored.

Contact

Press enquiries should be directed to the Ministry of Justice press office:

Tel: 0203 334 3536 Email: newsdesk@justice.gsi.gov.uk

Other enquiries about these statistics should be directed to the Data and Evidence as a Service division of the Ministry of Justice:

Carly Gray, Head of Access to Justice Data and Statistics, using the following email address familycourt.statistics@justice.gov.uk

Next update: 29 June 2023

URL: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/family-court-statistics-quarterly

© Crown copyright Produced by the Ministry of Justice

Alternative formats are available on request from ESD@justice.gov.uk

1. Annual trends are shaded grey. ↩

2. The Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass) also publishes (England only) data on the number of private law cases. A comparison of Cafcass and MoJ data and further information can be found in the accompanying guide. ↩

3. Please see the accompanying guide for further details. ↩

4. Removal of Legal Aid was a result of the Legal Aid, Sentencing & Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO) ↩