Applications to the High Court for review of asylum decisions more than doubled last year as the Department of Justice steps up the processing of claims for international protection.
There were 779 applications to the in 2023 for a review of asylum decisions, a 132 per cent increase on the previous year, according to the latest annual report of the Courts Service.
The number of asylum decisions that were the subject of judicial review applications exceeded all other types of applications, according to the 2023 report, with 779 new asylum cases as against 627 new applications involving other types of decisions.
A judicial review application is a request to the High Court that it review a decision made by a person or body performing a public function.
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The sharp rise in the number of asylum review applications appears to be linked to the increased number of decisions being made by the Department of Justice, according to the report.
Four-hundred-and-six asylum judicial review cases were resolved by the High Court during 2023. Most of the applications resolved (368) are categorised as involving “miscellaneous” orders rather than orders granting (seven) or refusing (two) the relief sought.
In the area of crime, the report shows a continuing fall in the number of cases coming to court for a wide range of offences, with the overall number of new cases involving more serious crime dropping to 19,569 in 2023, from 21,024 the previous year.
At District Court level new drugs cases (29,809 in 2023) have fallen by 10.5 per cent over five years, while larceny/fraud and robbery (33,829) have fallen by 10 per cent over the same period, according to the service. New road traffic cases (170,839) have fallen almost 25 per cent over five years while new sexual offences (3,211) have fallen 11 per cent on the 2019 level. New public order and assault cases in the District Court last year (43,750) were down 9 per cent on the 2022 figure.
There were 539 sentencing decisions in the Central Criminal Court for rape and attempted rape last year, involving 741 offences and 101 defendants. Sixty-two per cent of the sentences ranged from 10 years to life imprisonment.
Overall there were 550,000 new cases lodged in the courts in 2023, of which almost 180,000 were in the civil courts, up from 170,000 in 2022. The number of new High Court cases was 17,346, an increase of almost 8 per cent. The number of injunctions sought was up considerably (to 326 from 188) while the number of new recovery of debt cases rose to 20,492, from 17,291 in 2022.
The number of individuals who petitioned to be made bankrupt fell to 78 from 92, while the number of applications from creditors to have people made bankrupt jumped to 78, from 17 in 2022.
In family law, the number of new divorce cases in 2023 was 5,218, down from 5,551 the previous year. Only 64 (53 in 2022) of the new cases were at High Court level, where the assets involved tend to be greater in value.
In contrast to the trend in relation to crime, the number of applications in the District Court for barring, safety and protection orders under domestic violence legislation was up last year. There were 25,570 such applications, up from 23,356 the previous year. Over the five years the number of such applications has risen 25 per cent.
The appointment of 24 new judges during 2023 will ultimately bring the total to 217, according to the report.
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