Family Proceedings
(asked on 29th October 2026) - View Source
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, in the past five years, how many courtroom (a) hours and (b) days did (i) magistrates and (ii) judges spend hearing private-law Children Act cases.
The following tables show the number of days sat on private law cases in each of the last five years.
Total sitting days
Period | Actual Sitting Days |
Jul 21-Jun 22 | 63,384 |
Jul 22-Jun 23 | 62,250 |
Jul 23-Jun 24 | 62,941 |
Jul 24-Jun 25 | 61,071 |
Jun 25-Jun 26 | 64,456 |
Sitting days by judicial role
Period | Judges | Magistrates |
Jul 21-Jun 22 | 39,145 | 14,304 |
Jul 22-Jun 23 | 38,466 | 14,589 |
Jul 23-Jun 24 | 39,043 | 14,495 |
Jul 24-Jun 25 | 38,670 | 14,318 |
Jul 25-Jun 26 | 40,683 | 13,922 |
Sitting time is recorded in days or part days rather than hours. The data covers all private law cases, including cases not under the Children Act.