The courts and other dispute resolution bodies - StatRes (discontinued), 2010

In 2010, 16 000 civil disputes and 61 400 criminal cases were processed in the court of first instance (mainly the district courts) according to figures from the National Court Administration. The appeal courts processed 1 358 criminal and 1 710 civil appeals against rulings. The Supreme Court settled 143 cases, of which 68 were civil cases. In addition to these cases in the ordinary courts, the Land Consolidation Court (including the land appeal courts) processed a total of 1 234 civil cases.

General increase in cases from 2009

Both the court of first instance and second instance processed more cases in 2010 than in 2009, and with some isolated exceptions, there were more civil cases and criminal cases in the various judicial authorities. The largest increase was seen in the number of criminal cases (2 018), but the increase in the number of civil disputes in the court of first instance was almost as large (1 552). The composition of courts of first and second instance can vary, for example with a different number of judges, and most compositions processed more cases in 2010 than 2009.

Major increase in civil cases in past two years

In total, the courts of first instance processed 12 per cent more cases in 2010 than in 2006. The number of single-judge cases, i.e. criminal cases that are processed by only one judge, has increased every year since 2006. For the first time during this period there was an increase in 2010 in the number of criminal cases processed in the district courts as composite court cases. Since 2007, the disputes in the court of first instance have seen the largest relative increase, with the number of this type of civil case increasing by 23.5 per cent.

Longer processing times

For most types of cases, the average processing time was somewhat longer in 2010 than in 2009. This particularly applies to criminal cases processed in different ways in the court of second instance, but also to composite court cases and civil cases in the court of first instance. The average times in the Land Consolidation Court and the Supreme Court, however, were lower in 2010 than the previous year, and this reinforces the trend of recent years with steadily shorter processing times.

No increase in man-years

There were 1 975 man-years (see textbox) performed in the courts and other dispute resolution bodies in 2010, which is roughly the same as in 2009. Of these, 1 553 man-years were carried out in the ordinary courts, i.e. the district courts (including Oslo Office of the City Recorder), the appeal courts and the Supreme Court.

In the ordinary courts, 658 man-years were carried out by judges, and the Land Consolidation Court had 90 judge man-years. The appeal courts had the highest share of judge man-years, with 59 per cent. In the court of second instance, the share of man-years for judges was between 33 and 39 per cent.

The district courts had by far the most man-years, and made up 62 per cent of all man-years in this StatRes area in 2010. The corresponding share in the appeal courts was 14 per cent, 12 per cent in the Land Consolidation Court and 3 per cent in the Supreme Court.

Total expenditure of NOK 3.6 billion

The total expenditure for the courts and other dispute resolution bodies was NOK 3.6 billion in 2010. The expenditure for the bodies’ own operation, known as own production in the statistics, makes up more than 90 per cent of this. The operating expenses increased by 7.2 from 2009, with the wage costs increasing by 5.8 per cent and the purchase of goods and services increasing by 8.5 per cent.

Higher costs for barristers

The share of operating expenses that relates to the purchase of goods and services is relatively high (53.3 per cent in 2010), and the share that relates to wage costs is correspondingly low. This particularly applies to other parts of the justice sector, but also to the share in central government in general (see Central government - StatRes ). This is mainly due to the fact that this part of the justice sector has relatively high disbursements for special criminal cases. This mainly relates to payments for counsel for the defence and counsel for the aggrieved party, which make up 48.6 per cent of the costs within the purchase of goods and services. The special criminal cases expenditure was 12.1 per cent higher in 2010 than in 2009.