AQW 3630/22-27 Written question to the Minister of Justice
To ask the Minister of Justice to detail the average time taken for personal injury settlements to be made to victims, in each of the last five years.
Asked by Claire Sugden MLA on 27 September 2022
- Answered
- Written
- Tabled
- 27 September 2022
- Answer due by
- 12 October 2022
- Answered
- 7 October 202210 days after tabling
- Department
- Department of Justice
- Priority question
- No
Answer
The average time from issue to disposal for personal injury cases in the Kings Bench and County Court in each of the last five years are detailed in the tables below.
Kings Bench
| 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | |
| Personal Injuries Cases | 967 | 711 | 859 | 604 | 861 |
| Issue to Disposal (weeks) | 173 | 157 | 149 | 157 | 169 |
County Court
| 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | |
| Personal Injuries Cases | 5,267 | 4,897 | 4,738 | 1,946 | 3,801 |
| Issue to Disposal (weeks) | 58 | 56 | 52 | 53 | 67 |
The information is taken from the Integrated Courts Operating System. Personal Injury Cases include Road Traffic Accidents, Negligence, Breach of Statutory Duty and Clinical Negligence. The average time between issue and disposal excludes Default Judgements and Office Disposals
The Northern Ireland Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme provides for the payment of compensation to, or in respect of, persons who have sustained criminal injury.
Each claim for criminal injuries compensation is unique and often complex. In some instances, for example, significant medical information and other external information can be required to assess the application. The ability to process those applications is limited by the ability of organisations to return information in a timely way.
The following table provides details of the percentage of initial decisions and review decisions that were made within 24 months of an application to the scheme or a request for a review decision in each of the last five years.
| Percentage of initial decisions and review decisions made in each financial year that were made within 24 months of an application to the scheme or a request for a review decision | |
| 2017/18 | 86% |
| 2018/19 | 84% |
| 2019/20 | 87% |
| 2020/21 | 84% |
| 2021/22 | 74% |
When a decision is made on an application for criminal injuries compensation an applicant has up to 90 days to ask for the decision to be reviewed. If unhappy with the review decision, the claimant has up to a further 90 days to appeal the decision to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Appeals Panel for Northern Ireland (CICAPNI) which is independent of the Department of Justice. It is therefore not possible to provide details of the average time taken for an award to a claimant as that will depend on when a review is requested by an applicant and on processes within CICAPNI.