As the Deputy is aware, under the provisions of the Courts Service Act 1998, management of the courts, including the provision of statistics, is a matter for the Courts Service. In order to be of assistance to the Deputy, I have had enquiries made and the Courts Service has informed me that because of the automatic right of appeal to the Supreme Court, there is no procedure whereby the Court considers an appeal in order to make a decision on its admissibility. Under the Rules of the Superior Courts, appeals must be lodged within 21 days of receipt of the High Court order.
The table below sets out the number of appeals lodged and disposed of annually for the last 5 years which can also be found in the Courts Service annual reports for the years in question.
Year
|
Appeals lodged
|
Appeals disposed
|
2012
|
605
|
255
|
2011
|
499
|
258
|
2010
|
466
|
309
|
2009
|
499
|
341
|
2008
|
443
|
334
|
* the disposal figures include appeals withdrawn on consent without a formal court hearing.