Last year saw a more than twofold increase in requests for review of asylum decisions lodged to the High Court. This swell in applications was a result of the Justice Department’s intensified efforts on examining international protection claims. New statistics from the 2023 annual Courts Service report revealed that the figure soared to 779, a rise of 132 per cent on the year before.
Applications for reviews of asylum verdicts outnumbered other types of cases. In 2023, 779 novel asylum cases came under scrutiny, compared to 627 fresh applications associated with other varieties of decisions.
A plea for judicial review is essentially an appeal to the High Court to reassess a ruling made by an individual or entity tasked with a public duty. The sharp escalation in appeals pertaining to asylum seems to correlate with the Justice Department’s heightened rate of decision-making, as per the report’s findings.
During 2023, the High Court finalised 406 cases of asylum-related judicial reviews. Out of the resolved applications, 368 fell under the “miscellaneous” orders category, while a mere seven were about granting the relief sought and two about its denial.
Furthermore, the report highlights a consistent decline in court cases linked to a broad spectrum of crimes. The total figure for new cases concerning more severe criminal activities diminished to 19,569 in 2023, a drop from 21,024 the year prior.
In 2023, the District Court witnessed a decline in the number of new drug-related cases by 10.5 per cent over a span of five years, marking a total of 29,809 cases, as reported by the service. Concurrently, cases concerning larceny, fraud, and robbery decreased by 10 per cent, amounting to 33,829 cases. Road traffic incidents saw a significant reduction of nearly 25 per cent over five years, with 170,839 new cases. Newly reported sexual offences declined by 11 per cent from 2019 figures, totalling 3,211. Public order and assault cases presented in the District court reduced by 9 per cent compared to 2022, resulting in a count of 43,750.
In the Central Criminal Court, decisions on rape and attempted rape totalled to 539 last year, involving 101 defendants and 741 offences. From these, 62 per cent of individuals were sentenced between 10 years and life imprisonment.
In 2023, 550,000 new cases were filed across all courts, and approximately 180,000 of these were situated in the civil courts, a rise from 170,000 in the preceding year. The High Court saw a near 8 per cent increase in new cases, reaching 17,346. Also, there was a substantial increase in the number of injunctions requested, rising to 326 from 188 previously. The court also saw an increase in new recovery of debt cases; 20,492 compared to 17,291 in 2022.
The number of individuals filing for bankruptcy reduced to 78 from 92 in 2022, while applications submitted by creditors to declare people bankrupt increased to 78 from 17 in 2022.
In family courts, there was a decrease in new divorce cases in 2023, with 5,218 cases compared to 5,551 in 2022. Only 64 were lodged at the High Court where the value of assets is typically higher, a slight increase from 53 in 2022.
In an anomalous trend to crime figures, there was an increase in applications relating to barring, safety, and protection orders under domestic violence legislation in the District Court in the previous year. These applications rose to 25,570 from 23,356. Over five years, the total number of such applications had a whopping 25 per cent increase.
Finally, 24 new judges were appointed in 2023, pushing the overall figure to 217, according to the report.