The Ministry of Justice has recently published a new set of quarterly court statistics that show the average duration of civil and family cases at every County Court. This will enable the public to see how quickly cases are handled at their local court, and to compare it to other courts across England and Wales.

The new statistics show that for the period July to September 2011, care proceedings took 55 weeks on average.

Courts Minister, Jonathan Djanogly, said:

"The figures released today show that sometimes the court process can simply be too time-consuming. That is why we have a comprehensive reform programme underway.

"There are two ways we can solve this problem. Firstly, by giving more people the opportunity to take charge of resolving their own disputes through mediation, rather than using lawyers and a judge. This can be quicker and less stressful for all parties, especially where children are involved.

"Secondly, by improving technology, processes and ways of working in the civil, family and criminal justice systems.”

The Government has already committed to some recommendations for reform that came out of the Family Justice Review, including:

• Introducing a six month time limit for care cases to be completed.
• Placing a strong focus on mediation for separating couples, as a more practical and amicable alternative to court, especially for children.