Annual Report of the Judiciary of Trinidad and Tobago 2012-2013 Annual Report 2012-2013 | Page 113
TABLE 32
CURRENT PENDING/ DETERMINATION STATUS OF MATTERS AND APPLICATIONS: BY YEAR
OF MOST RECENT COURT HEARING
(% WITHIN EACH YEAR)
Aug 09 >
July 10
Aug 09 >
July 10
Aug 10 >
July 11
Aug 11 >
July 12
column %
FAMILY HIGH COURT (Matters)
Pending
Total:
All years
#
4%
29%
42%
33%
16%
3,261
Determined (column %)
96%
71%
58%
67%
84%
17,093
Total Matters with Most
Recent Hearing this year
2,271
3,079
2,367
2,173
100%
20,354
7%
27%
42%
34%
18%
7,806
Determined (column %)
93%
73%
57%
66%
82%
36,392
Total Matters with Most Recent
Hearing this year
5,155
6,674
5,355
5,204
100%
44,198
Pending
(column %)
Aug 12 >
July 13
(column %)
Another set of performance measures monitored closely by the Family Court are
related to the size and nature of the courts’ inventory of pending cases as illustrated
in Table 32. At the end of the most recent year of operation, (July 31, 2013), the
Family High Court had 3,261 matters pending. This represents 16% of all matters
that have been filed in the Family High Court. In addition, 33% of these pending
matters had a hearing in the most recent fiscal year, and since those matters are
receiving the active attention of the court they are not in this context a source of
priority concern.
A problem of very similar degree potentially exists in the Family Magistrates’
Court. As of July 31, 2013, the Family Magistrates’ Court had 7,806 applications
pending. This represents 18% of all applications that have been filed in the Family
Magistrates’ Court. Similarly to the High Court, 34% of these pending applications had a hearing in the most recent fiscal year, and are therefore receiving the
attention of the court.
111
Reshaping the
Judiciary Identity