Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 8
8
Mean family law case durations remain high with significant regional variations.
Conclusion
In 2024, the mean durations of public law and private law cases were 36 and 41 weeks respectively, significantly higher than the 27 weeks and 26 weeks on average in 2018.10 MoJ and HMCTS told us that the average duration for private and public law cases has reduced by about three weeks over the last year.11 MOJ stated that it hopes to be able to make similar incremental reductions within the next year.12 HMCTS explained that, in its view, these figures undersell what has been achieved, as it had prioritised older cases, the effect of which was to bring up the average age of the cases closed. The national averages do, however, conceal big regional variations in case duration, with Wales performing well but cases taking significantly longer in London and the South East.13