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Caseload, Case Disposal and Waiting Time at Different Court Levels
Court: High Court
►CASELOAD AND CASE DISPOSAL OF THE HIGH COURT 
| Caseload | Disposal * | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | |
| Court of Appeal | ||||||
| Appellate | ||||||
|
Criminal
|
||||||
|
Appeals from the Court of First Instance
|
83 | 75 | 75 | 112 | 87 | 72 |
|
Appeals from the District Court
|
212 | 161 | 171 | 165 | 159 | 178 |
| Sub-total | 295 | 236 | 246 | 277 | 246 | 250 |
|
Civil
|
||||||
|
Appeals from the Court of First Instance
|
559 | 466 | 413 | 730 | 479 | 331 |
|
Appeals from the District Court
|
15 | 18 | 10 | 15 | 7 | 22 |
|
Miscellaneous Appeals
|
25 | 17 | 16 | 22 | 27 | 14 |
| Sub-total | 599 | 501 | 439 | 767 | 513 | 367 |
| Review of Sentences | ||||||
|
Criminal
|
||||||
|
Reviews from the Court of First Instance
|
3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
|
Reviews from the District Court
|
9 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 8 |
|
Reviews from the Magistrates' Courts
|
9 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 5 | 2 |
| Sub-total | 21 | 13 | 5 | 16 | 15 | 14 |
| Total | 915 | 750 | 690 | 1 060 | 774 | 631 |
| Miscellaneous Proceedings | 602 | 556 | 381 | 449 | 534 | 421 |
| * | Case disposal refers to appeals/reviews which have been allowed, dismissed, withdrawn, discontinued or abandoned with or without a court order |
| Caseload | Disposal * | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | |
| Court of First Instance Appellate |
||||||
|
Criminal
|
||||||
| Appeals from Magistrates' Courts | 608 | 460 | 496 | 443 | 614 | 351 |
|
Civil
|
||||||
| Appeals from Labour Tribunal | 18 | 18 | 32 | 23 | 21 | 17 |
| Appeals from Small Claims Tribunal | 53 | 42 | 41 | 41 | 55 | 49 |
| Appeals from Minor Employment Claims Adjudication Board | 0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| Miscellaneous Appeals | 1 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 4 |
| Sub-total | 72 | 71 | 80 | 70 | 81 | 72 |
| Total | 680 | 531 | 576 | 513 | 695 | 423 |
| First Instance | ||||||
|
Criminal Jurisdiction
|
||||||
| Criminal Cases | 256 | 223 | 446 | 320 | 237 | 301 |
| Confidential Miscellaneous Proceedings | 545 | 883 | 749 | 545 | 883 | 749 |
| Application for Discharge | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Miscellaneous Proceedings (Criminal) | 724 | 637 | 882 | 686 | 581 | 833 |
| Sub-total | 1 525 | 1 743 | 2 077 | 1 551 | 1 701 | 1 883 |
|
Civil Jurisdiction
|
||||||
| High Court Actions | 1 960 | 1 858 | 2 113 | 1 254 | 1 048 | 1 164 |
| Miscellaneous Proceedings | 2 233 | 2 208 | 2 488 | 1 571 | 1 535 | 1 630 |
| Bankruptcy & Companies Winding-up+ | 8 169 | 7 860 | 9 134 | 8 844 | 7 982 | 8 904 |
| Personal Injuries Actions | 428 | 341 | 367 | 512 | 427 | 348 |
| Other cases# | 2 218 | 2 074 | 2 912 | 1 806 | 1 716 | 1 937 |
| Sub-total | 15 008 | 14 341 | 17 014 | 13 987 | 12 708 | 13 983 |
| Total | 16 533 | 16 084 | 19 091 | 15 538 | 14 409 | 15 866 |
|
Masters Chambers
|
||||||
| Interlocutory hearings** | 24 416 | 19 114 | 20 938 | 23 450 | 15 621 | 18 741 |
| Taxation bills | 592 | 475 | 414 | 476(1) | 422(1) | 403(1) |
|
Probate
|
||||||
| Applications | 21 978 | 23 006 | 26 298 | 20 390(2) | 21 890(2) | 23 718(2) |
| * | Case disposal refers to appeals which have been allowed, dismissed, withdrawn, discontinued or abandoned with or without a court order; criminal cases where defendants have been convicted or acquitted; and civil cases where claims have been successfully made or dismissed |
| + | Cases include Bankruptcy Proceedings, Companies Winding-up Proceedings, Applications for Interim Order (Bankruptcy) and Applications to Set Aside Statutory Demands |
| # | Other cases include Constitutional and Administrative Law Proceedings, Admiralty Actions, Adoptions, Bill of Sale Registrations, Book Debt Registrations, Commercial Actions, Construction and Arbitration Cases, Matrimonial Causes, Applications under the Mental Health Ordinance, Probate Actions, Stop Notices, Confidential Miscellaneous Proceedings (Civil) and Intellectual Property (a new case type created to capture intellectual property matters before the Court of First Instance with effect from 6 May 2019. Its caseload was formerly subsumed under High Court Actions or High Court Miscellaneous Proceedings and categorized under civil jurisdiction of the Court of First Instance) |
| ** | The caseload figure represents the number of interlocutory applications listed with hearings, and the disposal figure represents the number of the interlocutory applications heard in the reporting period |
| Note (1) : Case disposal refers to taxation bills processed | |
| Note (2) : Case disposal refers to grants issued/grants resealed/estates administration completed by the Official Administrator in summary manner |
►AVERAGE WAITING TIME FOR CASES IN THE HIGH COURT
| Average Waiting Time (days) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Target | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|
| Court of Appeal | ||||
|
Criminal - from setting down of a case to hearing
|
50 | 48 | 48 | 47 |
|
Civil - from application to fix date to hearing
|
90 | 86 | 81 | 64 |
| Court of First Instance | ||||
|
Criminal Fixture List - from filing of indictment to hearing*
|
- | 383 | 323 | 352 |
|
Civil Fixture List - from application to fix date to hearing
|
180 | 176 | 178 | 158 |
|
Civil Running List - from not-to-be-warned date to hearing
|
30 | 16 | 15 | 26 |
|
Appeals from Magistrates' Courts - from lodging of Notice of Appeal to hearing
|
90 | 168 | 160 | 208 |
| * | A new Practice Direction on criminal proceedings in the Court of First Instance of the High Court was promulgated in June 2017 to enhance management of criminal proceedings. Having regard to the new procedures under the Practice Direction, consideration is being given to review how the average waiting time for the Criminal Fixture List should be measured. In addition, the Criminal Expedited List has replaced the Criminal Running List. The way to measure the average waiting time of the Criminal Expedited List and the setting of its target are being considered in the light of the operation of the new measures |
