County court case timings published
The length of time it takes for cases to be completed at every county court has been published, so the public can gauge how their local court compares to others.
The latest quarterly court statistics (July to September 2011) reveal that, on average, care proceedings took 55 weeks to conclude, small-claims hearings took place 30 weeks after the claim was made, and higher-value hearings took place 57 weeks after a claim was made.
Parliamentary under-secretary of state for justice Jonathan Djanogly says the figures show the court process can “be too time-consuming”.
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) is already committed to ensuring care proceedings take no more than six months, and it will also increase funding for mediation for separating couples by two-thirds to £25m, he says. Currently, the MoJ is consulting on proposals to promote telephone-based mediation, double the small-claims limit to £10,000, and increase the use of electronic communications in court.
