County court claims fall in wake of Woolf reforms

County courts have seen claims drop by 11% since the introduction of Lord Woolf's civil justice reforms last year, judicial statistics published last week have revealed.Last year, 2,000,337 claims were issued in the county courts, a drop of 244,987 cases on 1998.

Personal injury claims accounted for 6,010 matters set down for trial, 47% of the total; the next largest group was debt actions which accounted for 2,260 matters which were set down.

Altogether, 88,389 claims were dealt with under the small claims procedure.

The Queen's Bench saw a more dramatic fall off in workload, with a 37% decrease in claims and originating summons last year to 72,161.

Actions received for trial in the Crown Court fell from 75,815 in 1998 to 74,232, and committal for trial fell by 5% from 77,794 in 1998 to 73,539 last year.However, the family courts were busier in 1999.

Public law family matter applications increased by 14% to 19,770 and private law applications rose by 22% to 90,381.

Sue Allen