Hong Kong Judiciary Annual Report 2011

Caseload, Case Disposal and Waiting Time at Different Court Levels

Magistrates' Courts

CASELOAD AND CASE DISPOSAL OF THE MAGISTRATES' COURTS

		Caseload			Disposal *
		2009	2010	2011	2009	2010	2011
-	Charge Cases	42 367	37 896	35 243	42 488	38 270	34 843
-	Hawker Cases	12 537	10 911	10 192	12 539	10 915	10 197
-	Departmental & Private Summonses	183 928	189 696	185 102	186 377	184 208	184 862
-	Driving-Offence Points Summonses	4 893	2 609	1 968	5 851	3 496	2 155
-	Fixed Penalty Summonses (Traffic)	1 033	905	612	1 154	924	719
-	Fixed Penalty Summonses (Public Cleanliness Offences)	578	451	319	624	475	343
-	Fixed Penalty Summonses (Smoking Offences)^@	7	89	76	1	77	78
-	Miscellaneous Proceedings	12 657	11 932	10 718	13 594	11 965	10 877
-	Departmental Notice	761	653	824	776	662	846
-	Fixed Penalty Notice (Traffic)	64 959	59 387	58 281	66 955	60 355	58 995
-	Fixed Penalty Notice (Public Cleanliness Offences)	3 606	3 003	2 622	3 567	3 066	2 753
-	Fixed Penalty Notice (Smoking Offences)^@	113	1 019	1 009	47	965	1 041
	Total	327 439	318 551	306 966	333 973	315 378	307 709

*	Case disposal refers to cases where defendants have been convicted or acquitted after trial or hearing, pre-hearing payments of all penalties and costs, and applications which have been granted, refused, withdrawn or struck out
^@	New case types pursuant to the Fixed Penalty (Smoking Offences) Ordinance, Cap. 600 came into effect on 1.9.2009

AVERAGE WAITING TIME FOR CASES IN THE MAGISTRATES' COURTS

		Average Waiting Time (days)
		Target	2009	2010	2011
Summonses - from plea to date of trial		50	63	50	54
Charge Cases - from plea to date of trial
-	For defendants in custody	30-45	43	37	38
-	For defendants on bail	45-60	55	51	51