The average length of time for a case to progress through the criminal justice system in Northern Ireland has been revealed.
New data released by the Justice Minister Naomi Long this week shows that it takes around six months from when an incident is first reported until it's disposed of at court.
The average, given as a median figure by the Minister, include complex cases that have taken years to complete, as well as those that are dealt with swiftly.
The figures were requested by the SDLP MLA Justin McNulty, who had used Stormont's written Assembly questions mechanism to ask for the figures in each of the last ten years.
The Minister, in her response, revealed that the average length of time has increased from 143 days in 2014/15 financial year, through to to 190 in the most recent financial year, 2023/24.
Figures for the current year, 2024/25, were not included.
The Minister noted: "Figures do not include cases where the case was dismissed but a caution was administered, fixed penalty registrations, penalty notices for disorder or cases resulting from a breach of a court order. Successful youth engagement cases were also excluded.
"Figures relate to cases brought on behalf of the PSNI, Harbour and Airport police in Northern Ireland that resulted in a court disposal. Appeals are not included."
The figures are as follows:
2014/15 - 143 2015/16 - 146 2016/17 - 165 2017/18 - 162 2018/19 - 167 2019/20 - 149 2020/21 - 193 2021/22 - 226 2022/23 - 206 2023/24 - 190For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here and sign up to our daily newsletter here.
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