| 103. |
Table 4
in Appendix C provides a picture of the system over the last decade. It demonstrates
firstly that over that period, there has been little change in the established numbers of
High Court judges or masters. The establishment of Justices of Appeal has remained at 10
(the Chief Judge of the High Court, 3 Vice-Presidents and 6 Justices of Appeal) although
over considerable periods, they have been one or two judges below full strength. Judges of
the Court of First Instance have not exceeded 25, varying between 20 and 25 in number.
Masters have varied in number between 6 and 10. |
|
|
| 104. |
Indeed, judicial
numbers at similar levels have been maintained for well over a decade. It was in 1981 that
the Court of Appeal expanded from two to three divisions, taking the number of appeal
court judges to 9. Court of First Instance judges (then referred to as High Court judges)
increased to 20 in 1982. |
|
|
| 105. |
This is in contrast
with the growth in the number of legal practitioners holding practising certificates (the
figures in question excluding government and, in some cases, in-house lawyers). Over the
last decade, the number of practising barristers has increased by two-thirds. The number
of solicitors has doubled. |
|
|
| 106. |
In the same period, the
case-load of the High Court has steadily increased. The greatest increase (coinciding with
the Asian financial crisis) was in 1998 and 1999. The number of HCAs commenced jumped from
14373 in 1997 to 22482 to 1998. It stayed at the relatively high level of 19733 in 1999.
The figures for the CFI's total caseload show similar growth. Taking 1991 as the base
year, the total case-loads for 1994, 1998 and 2000 increased by 22%, 115% and 82%
respectively. (Note 92) |
|
|
| 107. |
It may be noted that
the HCA figures show a sharply downward trend in 2000, falling back to levels comparable
to the 1991 base year levels. Those figures must however be read bearing in mind the most
recent extension of the District Court's civil jurisdiction. |
|
|
| 107.1 |
With effect from 1
September 2000, the District Court's jurisdiction in respect of monetary claims was
increased from $120,000 to $600,000. (Note 93) Moreover, claims falling within that limit but brought in
the Court of First Instance must be transferred to the District Court "unless [the
CFI] is of the opinion that, by reason of the importance or complexity of any issue
arising in the action or proceeding, or for any other reason, the action or proceeding
ought to remain in the [CFI]." (Note 94) It follows that a significant number of claims can be
expected to migrate from the CFI to the District Court, taking some of the pressure off
the CFI's lists. |
|
|
| 107.2 |
Table 5
in Appendix C bears this out. It depicts year on year comparisons for cases started in the
District Court in its most important categories during the first 6 months after its
jurisdiction was extended, as compared with the same months in the year prior to the
increase. The figures indicate a two- to three-fold increase in the District Court's
general civil actions, a 57% increase in its miscellaneous proceedings category and a
transfer of some 200 personal injury claims from the High Court. |
|
|
| 108. |
The figures therefore
show that the number of judges in the Judiciary's permanent establishment has not changed
significantly over a long period of time notwithstanding some substantial and sharp
increases in workload. Important assistance was derived from Recorders of the High Court
(recruited from among Senior Counsel who each sit for about one month each year) and
deputy judges (mainly redeployed from amongst District Judges and masters). Judges at
first instance have nonetheless had to cope with increasing pressures and bigger
case-loads. Such pressures are bound to have an impact on waiting-times and to create
delays. The quality of case management in the system inevitably must also suffer under
such pressures. Some relief is likely to come from the recent increase in the civil
jurisdiction of the District Court. However, the longer-term trends remain to be
established. |
