Court of Appeal

The Court of Appeal deals predominantly with civil and criminal appeals from matters heard in the High Court and serious criminal matters heard in the District Court.

Criminal jurisdiction

The number of active criminal appeals in the Court of Appeal has trended downwards since the beginning of 2011, after a significant and steady increase between late 2009 and early 2011.

As at 31 December 2011 there were 279 active criminal appeals, down from 332 as at 31 December 2010. A combination of an 8% increase in disposals and an 8% decrease in new business over 2011 resulted in a 16% reduction in the number of criminal appeals awaiting hearing or judgment.

Civil jurisdiction

The number of active civil appeals in the Court of Appeal has fluctuated over the last two years, but there has been no clear increasing or decreasing trend. As at 31 December 2011 there were 261 active civil appeals (awaiting hearing or awaiting judgment), a marginal increase from the 254 on hand as at 31 December 2010. There were 334 new civil appeals filed in 2011, a 2% decrease from the 341 filed in 2010. Over the same period disposals decreased by 5%, from 346 disposals in 2010 to 327 in 2011.

Statistics