LEGAL STATISTICS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3111, 29 October 1913, Page 3

LEGAL STATISTICS.

A DECENNIAL COMSPAiIISON. (From Otjr Own Correspondent.) WELLINGTON, October 7. A remarkable increase in the volume of legal business of the country is revealed by an interesting article in the *)dvanc® sheets of the Year Book issued to-day. The first noticeable increase commented on is in the record of the civil cases heard in the Magistrates’ Courts. Ten years ago there were 28,744 plaints entered in respect of £285,793. Of tl>'ese 16,571 cases were heard, and judgment was given for £157,766. Last year no fewer than 57,079 plaints were entered for £592,943, the eas:s tried numbered 36,815, and judgment was given for £331,020. The increase in the intervening period was steady till in 1909 there was a solid jump of 10,000 plaints in the year. j These figures, it is commented, show a marked increase in recent years in both » the number of litigants and the amount sued for. It would appear that the practice of using the courts'as media for tha collection of small debts is growing, not only in New Zealand but in other countries. In 1911 the civil cases brought before county courts and courts of petty sessions in Victoria numbered 29,074, the total amount sued for being £333,483. The figures for 1901 were 18,218 cases, tho amount sued for in that veav being £242,111. Tho Supreme Court records for the last decade also show a considerable (although not such a striking) increase. In 1905 595 cases were commenced, and judgment was given in 133 for £32,146. Last year the cases commenced were 755, while judgment was given in 235, with a total amount of £102,657. This comparison, however, is limited in effect, because for the last throe years tho district courts have been abolished. Only 39.34 of the cases commenced reach the court.

The bankruptcy figures for the give a rough and ready estimate of thd prosperity of the dominion. The position is summarised in the following figures:—• Of the bankruptcies in 1912, in 11 cases the liabilities were under £lO, in 62 from £lO to £IOO, in 97 from £IOO to £l2-5, in 76 from £250 to £SOO, in 44 from £SOO to £IOOO, in 13 from £IOOO to £2OOO, in 8 from £2OOO to £SOOO, and in 1, £SOOO and upwards. The point of note in this is the number of failures and the sums involved in the years ISOB and 1909. The 312 failures recorded last year was the smallest sine.*. 1905, while the amount of debts proved was the smallest since 1903. These figures carry their own lesson as to the course of prosperity and the present position of the country. The divorce figures for 1912 constituted a record for New Zealand, being 222 absolute decrees out of 274 applications. It is stated that the full effect of the 1890 legislation, which extended the grounds for divorce, is now being experienced. Up till 1898 the divorces averaged about 25 per year, but since then the average has jumped to about 160. A comparison is made between New Zealand and New South Wales and Victoria since 1893, Each of these states had a somewhat liberal divorce law in the early 90’s, when the New Zealand law was very restricted. After the New Zealand Act was extended in 1898 the number of divorces here tended to approximate to the Australian standard, as is shown by the following tables: —

The heavy figures for New South Wales in 1893 indicate that a number of cases had accumulated for the passage of the Bill iff 1892.

New South Wales. Victoria. New Zealand 1893 ... 306 85 25 1896 ... 234 106 36 1899 ... 205 105 46 1902 ... 239 109 90 1905 ... 182 136 114 1908 ... 206 151 171 1910 ... 251 140 154