Courts: Waits are still far longer than before Covid
Delays in the county courts are finally on the decline but they still comfortably exceed a year for anything but the small claims track, according to new figures.
The quarterly civil justice statistics, covering July to September 2025, showed that the median time taken for small claims to go from issue to trial was 39 weeks, 5.9 weeks faster than the same period in 2024.
For fast, intermediate and multi-track claims, it was 60 weeks, 5.1 weeks faster than a year earlier.
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has only reported on median wait times since 2022, having previously only used the mean figure.
On the latter measure – which can be skewed by extremes – the average wait in Q3 for small claims was 49.1 weeks and down by only 1.6 weeks from a year before. For other claims, the wait was 73.8 weeks, 2.7 weeks less than 2024.
Using either average, however, small claims delays are around six weeks shorter than the post-pandemic high of 2023, and around 13 weeks less for other claims.
At the same time, the Q3 2025 mean figures are both around 12 weeks slower than Q4 2019, the last quarter unaffected by Covid.
The MoJ recorded regional variations, with longer waiting times experienced in London and the South-East.
It said that, overall, county court claims received, defended, gone to trial and judgments all increased this quarter compared to the same quarter in 2024
Matthew Maxwell Scott, executive director of the Association of Consumer Support Organisations (ACSO), said two successive quarters of improvement suggested that “at last the tide seems to be turning for court delays”.
He said: “We are not yet back to pre-pandemic levels but this represents good progress nonetheless from the record highs of recent years. While 39 weeks and 60 weeks is still far too long a wait for justice, they are heading in the right direction.”
Mr Maxwell Scott added: “The MoJ needs to continue meeting the pledges it made in its response to the justice select committee report on the county courts, not least in working with HM Courts & Tribunals Service to address the shortcomings in the ongoing digitisation programme, where problems with the Damages Claims Portal in particular are adding time, cost and inconvenience for everyone in the civil system.”
Stuart Hanley, director of legal practice at Yorkshire-based Minster Law, commented: “These figures show some encouraging movement in the right direction… However, with court users still typically waiting close to a year for a hearing, delays remain far beyond what is acceptable.
“Our justice system is firmly in the spotlight after the government’s proposals to limit jury trials in criminal cases, to reduce the delays in cases coming to court.
Yet the vast majority use the civil courts if they interact with the law, and with this in mind, it’s critical that ministers give as much attention to resolving the delays in civil justice as they are to the criminal courts. Both are equally important.”
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