New report shows higher court processing times for juvenile matters in Waterford
Waterford Courthouse
Juvenile court matters had the highest waiting times for district courts in Waterford last year.
That is according to the Courts Service Annual Report for 2024, published last week.
Juvenile summonses had a median wait time of 34 weeks compared to just three weeks for adult summonses.
Juvenile charge sheets had a median waiting time of 20 weeks compared to 17 for adult charge sheets.
Waiting times for summonses refer to the period between the receipt of the summons application to a date scheduled for hearing.
For charge sheets, waiting times are the time between the receipt of a charge sheet and the first court date.
For civil applications, it is the time between the court receiving the application and the matter being listed for hearing.
In Waterford, the average waiting time to process civil applications was nine weeks last year.
The median waiting time for domestic violence matters was five weeks.
Childcare was two weeks, while both guardianship and maintenance were typically six weeks.
Family law district court appeals had a median waiting time of 36 weeks, while family law matters had 45 weeks.
Civil trials had an average waiting time of 12 weeks, and appeals had 10 weeks.
Criminal trials in the Circuit Court had the highest average waiting time of all court matters in Waterford at 47 weeks.
Sentencings were at 33 weeks, while appeals had an average wait time of 11 weeks.
