The latest statistics produced by the Ministry of Justice show that multi and fast civil claims are taking over 18 months to reach trial. The figures for the latest quarter also indicate that both small and multi/fast track claims are taking longer to reach trial than in 2022.
Delays Worse Despite Reduced Number of Claims
On average, it took around one year (51.9 weeks) between a small claim being issued and the claim going to trial in January to March 2023 - nearly a week longer compared to the same quarter in 2022. As for multi and fast-track claims, the average was 79.9 weeks which is 6.3 weeks longer than the average for January to March 2022. During this period, the number of trials was up by 11% to 15,000 compared to the same period last year.
These figures were criticised by the Association of Consumer Support Organisations (ACSO), which said they represented the worse on record for the datasets available since 2009. This was in spite of the fact that the total annual number of claims being submitted reduced from 2,029,258 in 2019 to 1,537,759 in 2022 - effectively a 24% reduction in the total annual number of claims.
Postcode Lottery Applies
Separate research into the delay times was also undertaken by the ACSO, alongside Express Solicitors, which reveals that there is generally a 353-day wait time for a court to hear a case. Furthermore, wait time varies greatly depending on the postcode you live at. For example, court delays in Dartford run at 829 days while in Blackpool, delays were at 79 days. The research indicated that with an average wait of 462 days, the southeast region is the worst-performing region. In contrast, the courts in the North East region provided the least delays, with litigants waiting an average of 251 days.
MOJ Urged to Set Targets to Reduce Delays
ACSO executive director, Matthew Maxwell Scott stated that there was still a ‘very long road ahead to rescue the civil justice system’ and expressed disappointment that the Ministry of Justice did not appear to have a clear strategy to solve these issues. He urged them to prioritise setting aside more resources to bring the delays down to an acceptable level and to set concrete targets to reduce the backlog.
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