Legal Representation: Wales
(asked on 6th February 2018) - View Source
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, in how many court cases were one or both defendants without legal representation in (a) Wales and (b) Gwent 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 for the years 2010 to 2016 are shown in Table 1. There is no Crown Court in Gwent; cases would be heard in other courts nearby.
Table 1: 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 representation1 | No advocate representation / unknown2 | |||
Number | Number | Percentage3 | Number | Percentage3 | |
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% |
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.
Figures on the number of defended civil court claims by details of legal representation for Wales and Gwent 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
| Wales |
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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 Newport (Gwent), annually 2013 – 2016.
| Newport (Gwent) |
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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 | 73 | 22 | 3 | 36 | 134 |
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2014 | 50 | 20 | 11 | 21 | 102 |
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2015 | 70 | 27 | 9 | 24 | 130 |
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2016 | 41 | 20 | 5 | 26 | 126 |
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Notes:
3) 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:
4) For both national and local data, information is not available before 2013.
5) Annual data is not included for 2017 as Q4 data has not yet been released.
6) 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 Gwent from 2011-2016
Legal representation status of applicants and respondents in Family Courts cases with at least one hearing in Gwent, Wales
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| Representation status at most recent hearing | ||||||||||
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| 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 | 1,068 | 842 | 79% | 226 | 21% |
| 1,393 | 813 | 58% | 580 | 42% |
2012 | 1,166 | 888 | 76% | 278 | 24% |
| 1,546 | 918 | 59% | 628 | 41% |
2013 | 1,208 | 868 | 72% | 340 | 28% |
| 1,497 | 659 | 44% | 838 | 56% |
2014 | 1,070 | 623 | 58% | 447 | 42% |
| 1,376 | 616 | 45% | 760 | 55% |
2015 | 1,191 | 822 | 69% | 369 | 31% |
| 1,486 | 794 | 53% | 692 | 47% |
2016 | 1,322 | 873 | 66% | 449 | 34% |
| 1,631 | 859 | 53% | 772 | 47% |
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. Gwent includes the following courts: Newport (Gwent), Gwent FPC, and Gwent county court 4. Data on all case types was not collected prior to 2011 |
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