Family Law

The Ministry for Justice has published quarterly court statistics for July to September 2009.

The figures show that there were 34,400 petitions filed for dissolution of marriage in the third quarter of 2009, compared to 32,500 in the third quarter of 2008. The number of decrees absolute granted for dissolution fell to 29,500 in the third quarter of 2009 from the 30,700 in the third quarter of 2008.

The number of petitions filed for judicial separation was 81 in the third quarter of 2009 compared to 107 in the third quarter of the previous year.

In the third quarter of 2009, the total number of ancillary relief applications disposed of was 20,800, down from the 23,200 in the corresponding quarter of 2008.

The number of applications to the county courts for domestic violence remedies increased from 6,700 in the third quarter of 2008 to 6,900 in the third quarter of 2009. The proportion of applications made for non-molestation orders also increased from 69 per cent to 73 per cent in that period.

In the third quarter of 2009 there were 6,500 public law applications, a 35 per cent increase on the same quarter of the previous year. Three quarters of these applications were made in Family Proceedings Courts. There were also 35,600 private law applications in the third quarter of 2009, a 19 per cent increase on the third quarter of 2008.

However, the MoJ warns that the figures for 2009 are thought to include a degree of double-counting of applications initially lodged in a County Court and then transferred to a Family Proceedings Court.

To download the quarterly court statistics - July to September 2009 click here.