§ Mr. Macdonaldasked the Attorney-General what was the percentage increase in instalment credit cases coming before the courts following the passing of the Hire-Purchase Act, 1964; what is the average period before such cases are heard; and what representations have been received regarding the burden on the court following the passing of this Act.
§ The Attorney-GeneralThe only statistics available of cases brought under the Hire-Purchase Acts are those relating to actions brought in the county courts for the recovery of goods let under hire-purchase agreements. The number of such actions was 58,877 in 1964 and 60,008 in 1965. These figures are not strictly comparable because cases in which less than one-third of the hire-purchase price has been paid were not required by the Hire-Purchase Act, 1938, to be brought in the county courts and may therefore have been excluded by some courts from their returns for 1964. No information is available as to the average period before cases under the Hire-Purchase Acts are heard but there is no reason to suppose that it differs from the average period for other types of cases, which is 4 to 5 weeks for actions in the Registrars' lists and 5 to 7 weeks for cases in the Judges' lists. No representations have been received regarding any burden on the courts following the passing of the Hire-Purchase Act, 1964.