Number of rape and murder cases rises in 2005

The number of rape and murder cases rose dramatically last year, the annual report of the courts service has revealed.

The number of rape cases coming to the Central Criminal Court rose by 10 per cent, while murder cases were up 25 per cent.

However, the time taken to get the cases to the Central Criminal Court has fallen in the past few years, from two years down to under six months by the end of 2005.

In general, the Circuit Criminal Court saw a 10 per cent increase in the number of cases brought before it during 2005.

Dublin criminals are more likely to plead guilty than their provincial counterparts, with 85 per cent entering a guilty plea in the Circuit Criminal Court, while only 67 per cent pleaded guilty outside of Dublin. Some 11 per cent of cases outside of Dublin end in acquittals, compared with only 4 per cent in the capital.

Road traffic cases make up the majority of summary matters in the District Court, at 66 per cent, while robberies account for 50 per cent of all indictable cases.

There has also been a 35 per cent rise in the number of cases taken for judicial review of asylum and immigration applications.

Personal injuries cases coming through the courts system fell dramatically during 2005, with the introduction of the Personal Injuries Assessment Board. Only 746 new cases were brought in the High Court in 2005,compared with 15,293 in 2004.

In family law, the number of cases of children taken into care by the Health Service Executive has doubled, with 975 cases brought.

Divorce cases have stayed reasonable stable, rising only slightly to 4,096 in the Circuit Court, up from 3,880 in 2004. A slight majority of cases were  initiated by women, but this difference was more pronounced in the judicial separation figures, where some 70 per cent was taken by women.