Legal Representation: Wales
(asked on 7th February 2018) - View Source
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, in how many court cases at least one defendant was without legal representation in (a) Wales and (b) City and County of Swansea for (i) civil and (ii) criminal cases in each year since 2010.
Figures on the number of defendants by legal representation status in the Crown Court in Wales and Swansea, 2010 – 2016, are shown in Table 1a and Table 1b.
Table 1a: Representation status, at first hearing, of defendants dealt with in the Crown Court, Wales, annually 2010 - 2016 |
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Year | Representation status at first hearing | ||||
Total number of defendants dealt within trial cases | Known representation | No advocate representation / unknown | |||
Number | Number | Percentage | Number | Percentage | |
2010 | 5,937 | 5,750 | 97% | 187 | 3% |
2011 | 5,532 | 5,388 | 97% | 144 | 3% |
2012 | 5,479 | 5,337 | 97% | 142 | 3% |
2013 | 5,275 | 5,161 | 98% | 114 | 2% |
2014 | 5,367 | 5,174 | 96% | 193 | 4% |
2015 | 5,677 | 5,433 | 96% | 244 | 4% |
2016 | 4,759 | 4,587 | 96% | 172 | 4% |
Table 1b: Representation status, at first hearing, of defendants dealt with in the Crown Court, Swansea, annually 2010 – 2016
Year | Representation status at first hearing | ||||
Total number of defendants dealt within trial cases | Known representation | No advocate representation / unknown | |||
Number | Number | Percentage | Number | Percentage | |
2010 | 1,320 | 1,289 | 98% | 31 | 2% |
2011 | 1,313 | 1,284 | 98% | 29 | 2% |
2012 | 1,235 | 1,205 | 98% | 30 | 2% |
2013 | 1,244 | 1,225 | 98% | 19 | 2% |
2014 | 1,324 | 1,294 | 98% | 30 | 2% |
2015 | 1,307 | 1,270 | 97% | 37 | 3% |
2016 | 1,036 | 1,011 | 98% | 25 | 2% |
Notes:
1) For criminal court cases the Ministry of Justice publishes annual figures on representation status, at first hearing, of defendants dealt with in the Crown Court. The latest figures up to 2016 can be found here in AC11 of the main tables: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-court-statistics-quarterly-january-to-march-2017
2) Information on unrepresented defendants in Magistrates’ courts is not held centrally.
3) Figures in table 1b are provided for Swansea Crown Court as it’s the only Crown Court in the City and County of Swansea.
Figures on the number of defended civil court claims by details of legal representation for Wales and Swansea between 2013 and 2016 are found in Table 2a and Table 2b:
Table 2a: Number of defended civil court claims by details of legal representation, in Wales, annually 2013 – 2016.
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Year | Parties with legal representation |
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Both Claimant and Defendant | Claimant Only | Defendant Only | Neither claimant nor defendant | Total | |||
2013 | 5,565 | 607 | 294 | 756 | 7,222 |
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2014 | 3,415 | 490 | 225 | 616 | 4,746 |
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2015 | 3,377 | 459 | 169 | 607 | 4,612 |
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2016 | 3,243 | 483 | 214 | 509 | 4,449 |
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Table 2b: Number of defended civil court claims by details of legal representation, in Swansea, annually 2013 – 2016.
| Swansea |
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Year | Parties with legal representation |
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Both Claimant and Defendant | Claimant Only | Defendant Only | Neither claimant nor defendant | Total | |||
2013 | 135 | 21 | 19 | 39 | 214 |
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2014 | 109 | 21 | 7 | 22 | 159 |
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2015 | 105 | 30 | 12 | 27 | 174 |
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2016 | 63 | 26 | 18 | 21 | 128 |
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Notes:
4) For civil court cases, the Ministry of Justice publishes national quarterly defence figures by legal representation of the parties. The latest annual national figures up to 2016 can be found in table 1.6 below:
5) For both national and local civil data, information is not available before 2013.
6) Annual data is not included for 2017 as Q4 data has not yet been released.
7) The total number of defended civil claims in Wales includes cases from the Wales County Court Money Claims Centre.
Table 3: Figures on the legal representation of applicants and respondents in family proceedings in Wales from 2011-2016
Legal representation status of applicants and respondents in Family Courts cases with at least one hearing in Wales
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| Representation status at most recent hearing | ||||||||||
| Applicants |
| Respondents | ||||||||
| Total applicants | Known representation | No advocate representation / unknown |
| Total respondents | Known representation | No advocate representation / unknown | ||||
Year | Number | Number | % | Number | % |
| Number | Number | % | Number | % |
2011 | 6,293 | 5,003 | 80% | 1,290 | 20% |
| 7,586 | 4,487 | 59% | 3,099 | 41% |
2012 | 6,861 | 5,342 | 78% | 1,519 | 22% |
| 8,327 | 4,831 | 58% | 3,496 | 42% |
2013 | 7,168 | 5,147 | 72% | 2,021 | 28% |
| 8,456 | 3,841 | 45% | 4,615 | 55% |
2014 | 6,173 | 3,918 | 63% | 2,255 | 37% |
| 7,395 | 3,462 | 47% | 3,933 | 53% |
2015 | 5,882 | 3,847 | 65% | 2,035 | 35% |
| 7,100 | 3,375 | 48% | 3,725 | 52% |
2016 | 6,514 | 4,172 | 64% | 2,342 | 36% |
| 8,008 | 3,968 | 50% | 4,040 | 50% |
Table 4: Figures on the legal representation of applicants and respondents in family proceedings in Swansea from 2011-2016
Legal representation status of applicants and respondents in Family Courts cases with at least one hearing in Swansea DFJ area
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| Representation status at most recent hearing | |||||||||||
| Applicants |
| Respondents | |||||||||
| Total applicants | Known representation | No advocate representation / unknown |
| Total respondents | Known representation | No advocate representation / unknown | |||||
Year | Number | Number | % | Number | % |
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2011 | 1,795 | 1,431 | 80% | 364 | 20% |
| 2,126 | 1,340 | 63% | 786 | 37% | |
2012 | 2,079 | 1,640 | 79% | 439 | 21% |
| 2,453 | 1,528 | 62% | 925 | 38% | |
2013 | 2,256 | 1,616 | 72% | 640 | 28% |
| 2,677 | 1,316 | 49% | 1,361 | 51% | |
2014 | 1,794 | 1,211 | 68% | 583 | 32% |
| 2,107 | 1,032 | 49% | 1,075 | 51% | |
2015 | 1,601 | 1,086 | 68% | 515 | 32% |
| 2,025 | 1,006 | 50% | 1,019 | 50% | |
2016 | 1,831 | 1,201 | 66% | 630 | 34% |
| 2,215 | 1,054 | 48% | 1,161 | 52% | |
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Notes: |
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1. Family cases include divorce, financial remedy, public law, private law, domestic violence remedy and adoption cases. | ||||||||||||
2. Self-representation is determined by the field 'legal representation' in Familyman being left blank, and 'at least one hearing' refers to non-vacated scheduled hearings, rather than actual hearings that have taken place. | ||||||||||||
3. Data for all case types was not collected prior to 2011 |
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4. Swansea DFJ includes the following courts: Aberystwyth, Blackwood, Brecknock, Carmarthen, Haverfordwest, Llanelli, Port Talbot Justice Centre, Swansea, Brecknock & Radnorshire FPC, Ceredigion FPC, Pembrokeshire FPC, Neath & Port Talbot FPC, Swansea FPC and Carmarthenshire FPC. | ||||||||||||
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