Modernising Staffing and Court Management Practices in Ireland

Annex C. Case weight tables in Ireland

Preliminary case weights and position calculations – Court of Appeal

Court of Appeals – case business	Case category	Average # cases incoming to judges, 2018/2019 – defined as resolved and determined*	Min. case weight (hours)	Min. annual workload (hours)	Av. mixed workload
Civil	Chancery	112	30.5	3 416	6 027
Civil	Commercial	24	49.7	1 193	2 017
Civil	Companies Act 2014 (and corporate insolvency)	11	30.4	334	516
Civil	Constitutional and European Law (excluding Chancery, Commercial List and Judicial Review appeals)	2	54	108	137
Civil	Contract	10	26.4	264	451
Civil	Family (including abduction)	9	28.1	253	369
Civil	Insolvency (personal)	13	26.6	346	488
Civil	Judicial review (other than commercial list, includes asylum and other)	90	29.6	2 664	5 157
Civil	Other (e.g. statutory appeals, cases stated, attachment/contempt)	46	26.9	1 237	2 220
Civil	Other work (civil: weekly directions, cases mentioned, Friday list callover, two judges)	42	12	504	1 812
Civil	Personal injury	52	36.8	1 914	2 041
Civil	Plenary (not covered above, e.g. defamation, professional negligence, other tort)	18	36.6	659	657
Civil	Proceeds of Crime Act	2	27	54	76
Civil	Security for costs	1	23	23	37
Civil	Summary judgement	60	26	1 560	1 740
Criminal	Article 40/Habeas Corpus	10	14.2	142	205
Criminal	Bail	16	3	48	84
Criminal	Criminal appeals	278	32.5	9 035	12 262
Criminal	Extradition	6	30.5	183	220
Criminal	Judicial review (criminal)	26	28.8	749	886
Criminal	Other work (criminal: weekly and daily average callover/directions, motions, administration; two judges)	42	17	714	714
Non-case related	Non-case related work, p. week	42	192	8 064	8 400
	Total av. annual work hours needed			33 464	46 515
	Total workload-based positions			19	29

Note: *Calculated per annual work week per judge – 30 December 2021.

Preliminary case weights and position calculations – High Court

High Court – court business	Case category	Average incoming to judges, 2018/2019 – Courts Service's definition for "incoming" differs by category	Min. case weight (hours)	Min workload (hours)	Average mixed case weight (hours)	Average mixed workload (hours)
All	Callover – total annual p. list judges, individual judges, provincial judges, vacation judges. Provided by High Court judges in December 2021.	2 248	0.20	450	0.60	1 349
Civil	Chancery (includes injunction applications, company law motions, specific performance/recession of contracts, administration of estates of deceases persons and trust actions) – reported as resolved by court. From Annual Report 2018 and 2019; plus 22 from other civil p. year.	248	10.10	2 505	87	21 613
	Chancery cases resolved "out of court". Time estimates based on sample case file reviews, by High Court President, February 2022.	251	5.00	1 255	11	2 636
	Child abduction – reported as resolved by court. From Annual Report 2018 and 2019.	32	15	480	28	896
	Commercial Court – cases reported as resolved. From Annual Report 2018 and 2019 – shown as resolved in court (av. 72).	72	19.80	1 426	198	14 249
	Commercial cases settled by motions to dismiss.	3	18.80	56	33	99
	Commercial cases settled after entry.	9	0.80	7	1	8
	Commercial cases settled after directions hearing and after hearing date set.	26	16.50	421	30	752
	Commercial cases settled at hearing.	16	19.50	312	33	528
	Common law non-jury – includes breach of contract (av. 36), negligence (except negligence resulting in personal injury) (av.33), debt recovery (av. 508), and Circuit Court appeals minus family law and personal insolvency appeals (370-59- 163 = 148) – reported as resolved by court. From annual report 2018 and 2019; plus 31 from other civil p. year.	756	12.80	9 677	39	29 408
	Common law non-jury cases resolved ("settled") out of court – time calculated based on Court President data – breach of contract (69, 81=75), negligence (51, 124=87.5), none f. debt recovery as those are default appearances and discontinuance notices that do not require judicial time; plus 7 from other civil p. year.	169	5.50	930	11	1 817
	Cases stated from District Court – average from Annual Report 2018 and 2019 (33, 39).	36	12.80	461	39	1 400
	Corporate insolvency – (examinership (41 orders, av. 4 orders=10 cases), wind up company (44 cases), restrict directors (12 cases), disqualify directors (1 case) – reported by orders made (more than one order may be made in a case). From Annual Report 2018 and 2019; average orders made estimated by register and judges.	67	7.70	516	28	1 899
	Windup company cases that settle, struck out, withdrawn; cases data from Annual Report 2018 and 2019; time from new Delphi estimates.	22	0.50	11	1	13
	Defamation and assault – reported as resolved by court and out of court. From Annual Report 2018 and 2019 (D21, a30)	29	15.00	435	45	1 291
	European Arrest Warrant – resolved by court. From Annual Report 2018 and 2019	140	9.50	1 330	17	2 408
	Family (excluding child abduction), family law appeals from Circuit Court (36,82=59), divorce (39,27=33) (minus 20 uncontested=13), judicial separation (34,47=40.5) (minus 24 uncontested=16.5), cohabitation (5,3=4) (minus 2 uncontested=2), nullity (of marriage) (1), maintenance (1,2), supervision and care orders (17,20=18.5), family law (other) (44, 44) and adoption (23, 22) (minus 14 uncontested=8) – reported as resolved by court. From Annual Report 2018 and 2019; plus 11 from other civil p. year.	238	22.00	5 236	57	13 447
	Uncontested divorce, judicial separation, cohabitation, adoption, surrogacy; 38% contested cases estimated by registrar.	61	0.50	31	1	46
	Judicial review (except asylum) – including habeas corpus. Reported as resolved in court. From Annual Report 2018 and 2019 (220+46, 337+41; plus 64 from other civil p. year).	322	11.20	3 606	37	11 866
	Judicial review cases resolved "out of court" (88+1, 157+1)	124	2.60	322	3	391
	Asylum cases – reported as applications resolved by court. From Annual Report 2018 and 2019 (130, 262)	176	13.60	2 394	15	2 614
	Resolved "out of courts" (332, 135)	228	1.70	388	2	479
	Medical negligence – special data from Courts Service in Dec 2021 and Jan 2022 for 2018 and 2019. Annual Report shows data as "cases" incoming to judges, which are orders made. New data provided by Courts Service are for new data on cases either heard and determined or settled during hearing (17, 25).	21	81.30	1 707	202	4 245
	Medical negligence cases settled/strike out before hearing. New data provided by Courts Service 3 March 2022 (250, 239). Time estimates by HC President.	244	2.00	488	2.5	610
	Medical negligence fatal settlement (52, 34). Time estimate based on Court President exercise.	43	3.00	129	3	140
	Medical negligence "minor", i.e. child, settlement and minor refused (43+6, 25+2). Time estimate based on Court President exercise.	37	3.00	111	3	120
	Medical negligence settled judgement (13, 21).	17	2.00	34	3	43
	Personal injury (including Garda Compensation) –special data from Courts Service, Dec 2021 and Jan 2022 for 2018 and 2019. Reported as "cases" incoming to judges. "Cases" in the Annual Report are defined as number of orders made; new data are for cases either heard and determined or settled during hearing; revised by Courts Service 24 February 2022 (401, 295); plus 27 from other civil p. year.	375	28.80	10 800	75	28 181
	Personal injury cases settled before hearing. New data provided by Courts Service 3 March 2022 (2 968, 3 234). Time estimates by HC judge.	3 101	1.10	3 411	1.6	4 807
	Personal injury fatal settlement (26, 41). Time estimate based on Court President exercise.	33	2.00	66	2	74
	Personal injury "minor", i.e. child, settlement and minor refused (142+7, 154+0). Time estimate based on Court President exercise.	151	2.00	302	2	340
	Personal injury settled judgement (48, 41)	102	1.00	102	2	153
	Personal insolvency – (including bankruptcy and personal insolvency appeals from Circuit Courts). From Annual report. Summonses 2018: 97; 2019: 88. Bankruptcy petitions: 32, 24. Special data provided by Courts Service Dec. 2021 and Jan. 2022.
	Bankruptcy summonses.	93	1.50	139	5	486
	Bankruptcy petitions.	29	38.50	1 117	47	1 363
	Personal insolvency and debt relief arrangements; 80% no judgement writing; Annual report 2019 and 2018 (10, 21).	13	8.50	109	22	282
	Personal insolvency and debt relief arrangements; 20% with judgement writing; Annual report 2019and 2018 (10, 21).	32	38.50	1 232	47	1 504
	Personal insolvency applications – self-adjudication. Annual report 2019 and 2018 (75, 73).	74	0.20	15	0	19
	Personal insolvency appeals from Circuit Court (97, 229). Special data provided by Courts Service Dec. 2021 and Jan. 2022; 80% no judgement writing.	169	8.00	1 354	22	3 680
	Personal insolvency appeals from Circuit Court (97, 229). Special data provided by Courts Service Dec. 2021 and Jan. 2022; 20% judgement writing.	42	38.50	1 629	47	1 988
	Probate – No data published. Number of cases handled on probate list based on list register estimate from Dec. 2021. Average 14 matters listed, 3 adjourned 11 cases handled per week in one morning session, occasionally sitting into half of the afternoon.	462	4.00	1 848	5	2 333
	More complex probate cases heard on other days – additional hearing time and judgement writing; av. 1.5 cases per week. Data based on estimate by probate judge, Feb. 2022.	63	3.00	189	7	410
	Proceeds of crime – resolved by court. Annual Report 2018, 2019.	16	10.90	169	18	278
	Property – possessions and other. Resolved by court. From Annual report 2018 and 2019 (169+35, 95+29); plus 14 from other civil p. year.	178	2.10	374	10	1 700
	Property resolved out of court (12+6, 11+1).	15	0.50	8	2	26
	Regulation of profession – resolved by court. From Annual report 2018 and 2019 (159); plus 3 from other civil p. year.	164	1.40	230	3	508
	Wards of Court – reported as declaration orders and applications dealt with by way of undertakings.	382	1.40	535	3	1 222
	Wardship orders dismissed, discharged, temporary protective confinements, etc. Monday list. Data based on High Court judge estimate cases listed provided 1 March 2022.	1 416	0.20	283	0.4	496
	Wardship orders dismissed, discharged, temporary protective confinements, etc. Tue-Fri. lists. Data based on High Court judge estimate cases listed provided 1 March 2022.	1 416	1.00	1 416	2	2 124
	Other civil: admiralty cases, simple – provided by Courts Service 8 March 2022.	4	1.00	4	2	6
	Other civil: admiralty cases, complex – provided by Courts Service 8 March 2022.	1	14.00	14	14	14
	Other civil: freedom of Information appeals – provided by Courts Service March 8, 2022.	2	45.50	91	46	91
	Other civil: arbitration – provided by Courts Service 8 March 2022.	1	61.50	62	62	62
	Other civil: wrongful imprisonment cases – provided by Courts Service 8 March 2022.	1	84.50	85	146	146
Criminal	Bail – resolved by court. From Annual report 2018 and 2019.	1 353	0.80	1 082	3	4 059
	Central Criminal Court – special data from CCTS system, provided by Courts Service, Dec 2021. 2018, 2019: 140, 141 cases.	143
	Excluding accused deceased, Nolle prosequi and TIC/non-conviction only.	21
	Guilty plea, lesser charge guilty plea.	52	5.50	286	8	403
	Not guilty by direction of judge.	6	24.50	135	74	409
	Guilty by jury, no result, not guilty by jury, not guilty reason of insanity, unfit to plea.	65	29.30	1 890	85	5 470
	Special Criminal Court – special data from CCTS system, provided by Courts Service, Dec 2021. 2019: 39 cases both years.	39
	Excluding nolle prosequi. TIC/Non conviction.	5
	Guilty plea.	19	19.17	364	52	990
	Guilty, non-guilty, and acquitted.	15	108.00	1 620	264	3 960
NCR	Non-case related work, p. week, all judges	1 932	11.00	21 252	16	30 912
	Total workload (hours)			86 925		212 859
	Total workload-based positions			48		118

Preliminary case weights and position calculations – District Court

District Court – court business	Case category	Average incoming to judges, 2018/2019 – definitions differ by category	Min. case weight (hours)	Min. workload (hours)	Av. mix workload (hours)
Civil	Enforcement of judgements – reported as incoming and orders issued. Numbers in AR are enforcement (summons to attend lodged in office) (2019 and 2018). System files show data for no. cases and NOT/Substantive Motion Disposed of and are significantly lower (see below).	2 140	0.19	407	738
	General civil – data from Courts Service file Annual Report 2019 District Court Civil with averages 270 320; reported as civil cases disposed by court. This includes appeals to DC, ejectment, other civil/ordinary, personal injury and personal injury minor.	5 505	1.70	9 359	17 203
	Licensing – from Courts Service data file: Annual Report 2019\DC & CC Licensing Stats 2019\2019 CSOL Stats\2019 Annual Licensing Stats.	42 144	0.03	1 264	4 847
	Small claims (SC) – from Courts Service data file Annual report/DC Small Claims 2019 06 05 2020; all Irish and EU, reported by cases received, disposed of out of court, and adjudicated by court. Most cases disposed out of court didn’t qualify for SC procedures.	606	0.70	424	576
Criminal	General criminal – Annual report provides resolved by offences only, includes juvenile.	104 330
	General criminal offenders dealt with 2019 – special report from Court Service – CCTC system, 16 December 2021; % resolved estimates by judges and registrars 21 Dec. 2021. 2018 – 78 418; 2019 – 50 506.	64 462
	Resolved by plea – 75%.	48 347	0.15	7 252	10 878
	Requires full hearing – 25%.	16 116	0.70	11 281	19 339
	Juvenile Children Court – Annual report provides resolved by offences only.	4 114	1.05
	Juvenile delinquents dealt with 2019, including Juv. Road traffic accidents –special report from Court Service – CCTC system, 16 December 2021. Estimates by judges (19 Jan. 2021 and registrars 21 Dec. 2021); 2018 – 1 118; 2019 – 1 255.	1 218
	Resolved by plea – 75%.	913	0.20	183	183
	Requires full hearing – 25%.	228	1.05	240	314
	Road traffic – Annual Report only provides number of offences dealt with.	134 060	0.60
	Defendants dealt with 2019 – special report from Court Service – CCTC system, 16 December 2021, estimates by judges (22 Jan. 2022, and registrars 21 Dec. 2021), adult road traffic accidents only. 2018 – 78 418; 2019 – 79 709.	79 064
	Resolved by plea – 80%.	63 251	0.10	6 325	18 975
	Requires full hearing – 20%.	15 813	0.60	9 488	11 069
Family	Childcare – reported in AR are only incoming and resolved applications for orders (including case process orders, i.e. adjournment, direction, etc.). Used Courts Service special file, annual total, DC Family Law 2019 08 05 2020, and registrar estimates sent by CS on 12/21. Compared with Tusla data – av. order types issued 2019-2021.	9 398	2.00
	Divided by av. number of applications per case estimated by registrars at 10.	940	2.00	1 880	3 289
	General family law – From Courts Service special files. Resolved by court. Includes maintenance, domestic violence, guardianship and other, which is mainly application for service and sect. 32.	46 644	0.70
	Divided by av. number of applications per case estimated by registrars at av. 2.8.	16 659	2.00	33 317	33 317
NCR	Non-case related work, p. day all judges	42	1 280.00	53 760	69 216
	Total workload (hours)			135 178	180 677
	Total workload-based positions			75	100

Preliminary case weights and position calculations – Circuit Court

Circuit Court – case business	Case category	Average # "cases" incoming to judges, 2018/2019 – definition varies by case category	Min. case weight (hours)	Min. annual workload (hours)	Average mixed workload (hours)
All	Callover – 5 Daily in Dublin, 4 days in provinces = av. 4.3 days p. week per judge.	6 682	0.24	1 604	7 484
Civil	District Court Appeals – civil – from Courts Service file CC Annual Total 2019 and 2018, CC civil.	148	1.6	237	237
	Hearings (on oral evidence) – from Courts Service file CC Annual Total 2019 and 2018, CC civil. Reported as civil bills issued; discontinued and NOT/Substantive Motions Disposed.	11 707
	Excluding possession applications (1 578) personal insolvency (4 076), Care representative (590) and District Court Appeals (148). Annual Circuit Civil stats 2019.xls tab Annual Report 2019 & Annual Circuit Civil stats 2018.xls tab Annual Report 2018.	5 315
	Excluding discontinued, resolved out of court (1 262). Annual Circuit Civil stats 2019.xls tab Annual Report 2019 & Annual Circuit Civil stats 2018.xls tab Annual Report 2018.	4 053
	Cases settled at hearing, av. 60%.	2 432	0.25	608	1 520
	Full hearing, av. 40%.	1 621	3	4 864	12 159
Civil	Licensing reported as applications handled – from Courts Service files Annual Total 2019 190 520 pm and Annual CC Licensing 2018.	237	1.7	403	403
Civil	Motions (on affidavit other than possession) reported as "Judges motions and ex parte dealt with" – from Courts Service files Annual Circuit Civil stats 2019.xls tab Annual Report 2019 & Annual Circuit Civil stats 2018.xls tab Annual Report 2018.	4 730
	Motions dealt with/settled (excluding adjourned).	2 586	0.5	1 293	1 293
	Motions adjourned, av. 2018/2019.	2 144	3.7	7 933	8 362
Civil	Personal insolvency – incoming (4 076) – counted as Debt Relief Notices and Protective Certificates incoming av. 2018/2019 (1 872) to avoid multiple counts of PI applications – from Court Service special files Annual Report PI stats 2019 and 2018.	1 872
	Personal insolvency – DRN & PIA/DSA 2019 only – resolved by court, includes refused, excludes withdrawn.	1 566	3	4 698	8 613
Civil	Possession applications – property (possessions), incoming and resolved by courts/out of court.	1 578
	PA – contested 80%, av. 2 applications.	631	4.2	2 651	3 219
	PA – settled 20%.	316	1.8	568	726
Criminal	District Court appeals – criminal; reported incoming by appellants; resolved by offences. From CCTs_ICMS 2018 (9 165) and 2019 (10 171) special calculations on 13 Jan. 2022.	9 668
	Incoming appeals minus strike out withdrawn (5 112) and strike out no appearance (4 680). From CCTS files from Courts Service, Jan 2022.	4 896
	Sentence only – 65%.	3 182	0.8	2 546	3 262
	Conviction and sentence – 35%.	1 714	1.6	2 742	4 027
Criminal	Jury trials – data from special calculations from Courts Service, Dec. 2021 and 3 Jan 2022 are "all resolved" count from CCTS average 2018 (3 210) and 2019 (3 396) = 3210; excluding exceptional results (av.29), TIC/NON Conviction (83), accused deceased (9).	3 182
	Preliminary time only = No result (15,4=10), Nolle prosequi (236,228=232), Unfit to plead (2) = 244 = 8%.	255	1	255	764
	Plea w. sentence only hearing (7) and plea at hearing and sentence (2 661) = 2 669 = av. 83%.	2 641	1.5	3 962	15 186
	Full substantive hearing and sentence = sum of "guilty by jury" (152), "lesser Charge, guilty by direction" (2.5)," lesser charge guilty by jury" (3.5) – av. 5%.	159	10.95	1 742	5 895
	Full substantive hearing no sentence = not guilty by direction of judge (92.5), not guilty by jury (169), not guilty by reason of insanity (5.5) = 267 = av. 8.3%.	264	9.3	2 456	9 283
Family	District Court appeals (DCA) – family; reported as resolved; data from Courts Service file CC Annual Total 2019 and 2018, CC Family Law Galaway Revised; excluding not entered (av. 40).	960
	DCAs contested – 55%.	528	4	2 112	3 168
	DCAs uncontested – 45%.	432	0.15	65	76
	Interim applications – and other final orders – data from Courts Service file CC Annual Total 2019 and 2018, CC Family (av. 10,582) – 40% of total come to judges.	4 233
	Long applications – 60%.	2 540	8.3	21 079	26 730
	Short applications – 40%.	1 693	0.5	847	847
	Status decrees – counted as final orders, data from Courts Service file CC Annual Total 2019 and 2018, CC Family, (4 627).	4 627
	Minus Judicial Separation (av. 767).	3 860
	Status decrees – contested – 20%.	772	3.8	2 934	3 976
	Status decrees, not contested – 80%.	3 088	0.75	2 316	2 362
NCR	Non-case related work p. week, p. judge	42	380	15 960	35 700
	Total workhours			83 872	155 290
	Total workload-based positions			47	86

Note: One judge is assigned permanently by the government to the Eastern Circuit (comprising Meath, Louth, Kildare and Wicklow – sits in Trim, Dundalk, Naas and Bray); South Eastern Circuit (Waterford, Wexford, Tipperary, Kilkenny and Carlow – sits in Waterford, Dungarvan, Wexford, Clonmel, Thurles, Nenagh, Kilkenny and Carlow); South Western Circuit (Limerick, Clare and Kerry – sits continuously in Limerick and in Ennis, Kilrush, Newcastlewest, Tralee, Killarney and Listowel); Western Circuit (Galway and Mayo – sits in Galway, Loughrea, Clifden, Castlebar and Ballina); Midland Circuit (Laois, Longford, Offaly, Roscommon, Sligo and Westmeath – sits in Longford, Portlaoise, Tullamore, Mullingar, Athlone, Roscommon and Sligo) ); and Northern Circuit (Cavan, Monaghan, Leitrim and Donegal – sits in Cavan, Monaghan, Carrickmacross, Carrick on Shannon, Letterkenny, Buncrana and Donegal).