Courts data

Civil courts

Civil cases are those that do not involve family matters or failure to pay council tax. Civil cases are mainly dealt with by county courts and typically relate to debt (these generally being issued for a specified amount of money), the repossession of property, personal injury (these generally being issued for an unspecified amount of money), the return of goods and insolvency. Particularly important, complex or substantial cases are instead dealt with in the High Court.

See civil justice statistics at MOJ for further information.

Civil courts - total claims

The process of taking a person(s) or company to court regarding a civil (non-family) matter begins with a person (the claimant) either completing a claim form and taking it to a court or completing a claim form online.

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Period	Civil courts - total claims
Jan 2000 to Dec 2000	1,943,513
Jan 2001 to Dec 2001	1,805,637
Jan 2002 to Dec 2002	1,743,339
Jan 2003 to Dec 2003	1,718,883
Jan 2004 to Dec 2004	1,723,371
Jan 2005 to Dec 2005	1,968,894
Jan 2006 to Dec 2006	2,115,491
Jan 2007 to Dec 2007	1,944,812
Jan 2008 to Dec 2008	1,993,828
Jan 2009 to Dec 2009	1,803,221
Jan 2010 to Dec 2010	1,550,626
Jan 2011 to Dec 2011	1,504,243
Jan 2012 to Dec 2012	1,394,230
Jan 2013 to Dec 2013	1,445,339
Jan 2014 to Dec 2014	1,594,596
Jan 2015 to Dec 2015	1,562,065
Jan 2016 to Dec 2016	1,802,286
Jan 2017 to Dec 2017	2,048,446
Jan 2018 to Dec 2018	2,073,957
Jan 2019 to Dec 2019	2,029,258
Jan 2020 to Dec 2020	1,296,188
Jan 2021 to Dec 2021	1,582,363

Jan 2021 to Dec 2021 1,582,363

Data source Civil justice statistics (quarterly)

Published: 1 December 2022. Next publication: 02 March 2023 9:30am.

Civil courts - claims defended

Whether the claim is issued online or through the county courts, a copy of the claim form along with a response pack is sent to (served on) the defendant who has 14 days to respond to the claim. The defendant can: do nothing; pay up (either the full amount of the claim or in part); admit the claim and ask for more time to pay (in full or part); and/or dispute (defend) the claim (in full or part).

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Period	Civil courts - claims defended
Jan 2000 to Dec 2000	248,167
Jan 2001 to Dec 2001	252,176
Jan 2002 to Dec 2002	263,384
Jan 2003 to Dec 2003	264,379
Jan 2004 to Dec 2004	258,096
Jan 2005 to Dec 2005	275,138
Jan 2006 to Dec 2006	292,115
Jan 2007 to Dec 2007	338,616
Jan 2008 to Dec 2008	298,796
Jan 2009 to Dec 2009	315,963
Jan 2010 to Dec 2010	290,889
Jan 2011 to Dec 2011	275,918
Jan 2012 to Dec 2012	259,585
Jan 2013 to Dec 2013	262,872
Jan 2014 to Dec 2014	264,701
Jan 2015 to Dec 2015	264,545
Jan 2016 to Dec 2016	284,328
Jan 2017 to Dec 2017	297,936
Jan 2018 to Dec 2018	298,055
Jan 2019 to Dec 2019	298,605
Jan 2020 to Dec 2020	250,087
Jan 2021 to Dec 2021	275,904

Jan 2021 to Dec 2021 275,904

Data source Civil justice statistics (quarterly)

Published: 1 December 2022. Next publication: 02 March 2023 9:30am.

Civil courts - claims allocated to track

If the claim is defended, the usual procedure is for further information to be provided by the parties, following which the case is allocated by a judge to one of three case-management tracks: small claim track, fast track or multi track.

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Period	Civil courts - claims allocated to track
Jan 2000 to Dec 2000	152,641
Jan 2001 to Dec 2001	143,486
Jan 2002 to Dec 2002	140,721
Jan 2003 to Dec 2003	154,705
Jan 2004 to Dec 2004	151,527
Jan 2005 to Dec 2005	153,328
Jan 2006 to Dec 2006	155,149
Jan 2007 to Dec 2007	173,751
Jan 2008 to Dec 2008	163,905
Jan 2009 to Dec 2009	179,983
Jan 2010 to Dec 2010	168,693
Jan 2011 to Dec 2011	170,615
Jan 2012 to Dec 2012	151,120
Jan 2013 to Dec 2013	149,637
Jan 2014 to Dec 2014	143,529
Jan 2015 to Dec 2015	151,260
Jan 2016 to Dec 2016	157,140
Jan 2017 to Dec 2017	165,221
Jan 2018 to Dec 2018	175,888
Jan 2019 to Dec 2019	191,725
Jan 2020 to Dec 2020	147,285
Jan 2021 to Dec 2021	158,626

Jan 2021 to Dec 2021 158,626

Data source Civil justice statistics (quarterly)

Published: 1 December 2022. Next publication: 02 March 2023 9:30am.

Civil courts - claims gone to trial

Defended cases which are not settled or withdrawn generally result in a small claim hearing or trial.

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Period	Civil courts - claims gone to trial
Jan 2000 to Dec 2000	71,233
Jan 2001 to Dec 2001	71,763
Jan 2002 to Dec 2002	68,901
Jan 2003 to Dec 2003	65,026
Jan 2004 to Dec 2004	62,201
Jan 2005 to Dec 2005	63,367
Jan 2006 to Dec 2006	62,968
Jan 2007 to Dec 2007	69,248
Jan 2008 to Dec 2008	63,981
Jan 2009 to Dec 2009	64,078
Jan 2010 to Dec 2010	60,303
Jan 2011 to Dec 2011	52,660
Jan 2012 to Dec 2012	46,993
Jan 2013 to Dec 2013	43,093
Jan 2014 to Dec 2014	45,062
Jan 2015 to Dec 2015	48,192
Jan 2016 to Dec 2016	51,106
Jan 2017 to Dec 2017	56,373
Jan 2018 to Dec 2018	58,517
Jan 2019 to Dec 2019	64,754
Jan 2020 to Dec 2020	45,200
Jan 2021 to Dec 2021	53,675

Jan 2021 to Dec 2021 53,675

Data source Civil justice statistics (quarterly)

Published: 1 December 2022. Next publication: 02 March 2023 9:30am.

Civil courts - total judgments

Total number of judgments in the county courts. Some civil cases are resolved via mediation or settled out of court and don't proceed to a judgement.

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Period	Civil courts - total judgments
Jan 2009 to Dec 2009	982,464
Jan 2010 to Dec 2010	794,311
Jan 2011 to Dec 2011	748,586
Jan 2012 to Dec 2012	663,457
Jan 2013 to Dec 2013	667,168
Jan 2014 to Dec 2014	831,541
Jan 2015 to Dec 2015	867,665
Jan 2016 to Dec 2016	1,055,035
Jan 2017 to Dec 2017	1,284,364
Jan 2018 to Dec 2018	1,291,142
Jan 2019 to Dec 2019	1,323,750
Jan 2020 to Dec 2020	727,438
Jan 2021 to Dec 2021	980,474

Jan 2021 to Dec 2021 980,474

Data source Civil justice statistics (quarterly)

Published: 1 December 2022. Next publication: 02 March 2023 9:30am.