The report details a system under sustained pressure, with rising civil litigation, growing serious crime caseloads and a busier District Court, as several laws designed to ease that pressure sit unused on the statute book.

The Courts and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2025, signed into law last December, provides for an increase in the number of ordinary judges: the Court of Appeal to 21, the High Court to 55, the Circuit Court to 51, and the District Court to 77. The report confirms the relevant sections are “not yet commenced,” meaning none of the additional judges can be appointed.

Also stalled is the Family Courts Act 2024, which would create dedicated family law divisions across the District, Circuit and High Courts, led by principal judges. The Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Act 2024, signed into law in July 2024, has likewise not commenced; it would give the Circuit Court jurisdiction over parental orders for future domestic and international surrogacy arrangements, and the High Court jurisdiction over past arrangements.

The fourth, the Court Proceedings (Delays) Act 2024, would let litigants seek compensation for unreasonable delays in their cases through a newly created Court Delay Assessor. The Courts Service says it “continues to provide observations” on the legislation, which “has not yet been commenced.”

The report also gives the first full-year picture of the Civil Restraining Orders regime – formally the Civil Orders Against Relevant Conduct legislation – under which the District Court made 1,839 orders in 2025. Though often associated with stalking and harassment, the orders have been used for a broader range of disputes, including neighbour conflicts, bullying and family matters falling outside domestic violence law.

The Courts Service acknowledged that “challenges emerged” as court users, lawyers, judges and staff became familiar with the new law, and that the volume of applications placed “considerable demands” on already busy District Courts. It initiated a review of processes and supporting information late in the year “with the aim of improving the experience for all those involved.”

Separately, the report discloses that 444 sentences for rape, including attempted rape, were handed down in the Central Criminal Court last year. Of these, 58 per cent – 259 sentences – were for 10 years or more in prison.

The full breakdown shows 261 outright prison sentences, 169 prison sentences partly suspended, 14 detention orders for juvenile offenders, and two sentences that were fully suspended. A further 463 prison sentences were handed down for other sexual offences, along with 51 partly suspended sentences, 17 juvenile detention orders and two fully suspended sentences.