Chief Justice Donal O'Donnell

Writing in the foreword to the court’s 2021 annual report, which was published today, Chief Justice Donal O’Donnell said the pandemic “continued to have an impact upon the work of the Supreme Court throughout much of 2021”.

The average length of time from the grant of leave to appeal to the listing of an appeal ranged from 14.5 weeks to 17 weeks in the four quarters of 2021.

John Mahon, registrar of the Supreme Court, said: “No significant backlog has been allowed to develop during the pandemic and the court was in a strong position to maintain its level of service during the year and to continue to dispose of its caseload in a just and efficient manner.

“The Chief Justice has referred to the setting of an indicative timeline of 13 to 16 weeks from the grant of leave to the hearing of an appeal and the court has worked hard to implement this.”

A total of 149 applications for leave were lodged with the Supreme Court in 2021 and 145 were resolved. Less than a third (32 per cent) of applications for leave were granted. A smaller proportion (29 per cent) of applications for leapfrog appeal were granted.

The court delivered 101 judgments over the year.