Adult criminal cases accounted for 72% of Magistrates' Court sitting days during 2025

Date published: 26 June 2026

New accredited official statistics published today by NISRA statisticians in the Department of Justice (DoJ) present information on judicial statistics during 2025.

Key findings

During 2025:

• Within the 4,274 Magistrates’ Court sitting days during the year, 72% were adult criminal, 7% were youth criminal and 21% were civil and family days.
• There were 4,516 Children Order applications received and 4,261 disposed. Average waiting times for both public and private law applications decreased between 2024 and 2025.
• County Court and District Judges sat a total of 4,601 sitting days during the year.
• Judges sat a total of 57 days on criminal Court of Appeal business and 121 days on civil Court of Appeal business.
• There were 2,779 Crown Court sittings, with 1,609 cases and 1,891 defendants received. There were also 1,376 cases and 1,691 defendants disposed.
• There were 1,972 High Court sitting days during the year. The highest proportion of these days was spent on Bails business (22%).

About this publication

This report provides an overview of Children Order and County, Court of Appeal, Crown, High and Magistrates’ Courts’ business during 2025 and how it compares with the comparative figures for the previous year.

Further information

Read the full report, data tables and background information: NICTS judicial statistics | Department of Justice