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
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).
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
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
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
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.