HL Deb 25 June 1999 vol 602 cc113-4WA
Lord Lester of Herne Hill

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What has been the average period of time for the determination of appeals to the House of Lords, from the date when leave to appeal has been granted by the House of Lords to the date of determination of the appeal, during each of the last three years. [HL2689]

The Lord Chancellor

In order to answer this Question, the different stages involved in the determination of an appeal must first be identified. The most important stages are:

  1. 1. Presentation—when the appellant first presents his petition of appeal;
  2. 2. Setting down—when the parties have prepared all the supplementary documents such as the WA 114 records of what happened in the lower courts, their cases and evidence;
  3. 3. Hearing—when the appeal is heard by the Law Lords: and
  4. 4. Judgment—when the Law Lords report to the House (judgment).

The length of time between stages 1 and 2 is largely within the parties' control. That between stages 2 and 3 is dependent on the predicted length of the case, the availability of counsel and, most important, the number of set-down appeals already waiting to be heard. The period between stages 3 and 4 represents the lime taken by the Law Lords to prepare their opinions.

The statistics below include Recesses and cases referred to the Court of Justice of the European Communities, both of which distort the statistics. The statistics cover all appeals heard in each of the years 1996, 1997 and 1998. The answer to the earlier question, HL2700, indicated how many appeals were disposed of in each year.

1. Average (mean) number of weeks from presentation to judgment:

  • 1998: 49.44
  • 1997: 51.11
  • 1996: 51.50

2. Average number of weeks from presentation to setting down:

  • 1998: 14.25
  • 1997: 14.04
  • 1996: 16.84

3. Average number of weeks from setting down to hearing:

  • 1998: 20.87
  • 1997: 24.28
  • 1996: 20.94

4. Average number of weeks from hearing to judgment:

  • 1998: 14.32
  • 1997: 12.79
  • 1996: 13.72

5. Average number of weeks from setting down to judgment:

  • 1998: 35.19
  • 1997: 37.07
  • 1996: 34.66