Private law data
Private law demand is generally used to refer to applications made following a divorce or separation about the arrangements for children, such as where a child will live or with whom a child will spend time.
Note: Cafcass private law demand statistics are published on the eighth working day of each month. Figures are provided from our national databases, the current electronic case management system (ECMS) and historical case management system (CMS). In private law the unit of measurement is a case (note a case can involve multiple children and multiple application types). These are counted upon receipt of the application from the court and entry into the database. The ECMS is a live system and any late entries will be accounted for upon the release of subsequent updates to this data.
If you have any queries about the private law statistics, please contact us via our website form.
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Monthly statistics
The number of private law applications received per month nationally can be seen in the table below.
Latest release: We received a total of 3,719 new private law cases – 7.5% (258 cases) higher than April 2018.
You can download April 2019 private law demand statistics, which contains the latest official statistics for private law demand.
Private law cases received
2014-15
2015-16
2016-17
2017-18
2018-19
2019-20
Apr 3,190
2,859
3,463
3,130
3,461
3,719
May 2,141
2,792
3,170
3,628
3,639
Jun 2,596
3,372
3,486
3,812
*3,392
Jul 2,892
3,466
3,376
3,616
3,683
Aug 2,502
2,868
3,449
3,637
3,955
Sep 2,819
3,011
3,493
3,548
3,434
Oct 3,367
3,226
3,381
3,815
*3,991
Nov 3,095
3,357
3,492
3,741
4,027
Dec 2,663
2,917
2,842
2,737 3,072 Jan 2,753
2,876
3,240
3,505 3,586 Feb 2,929
3,300
3,333
3,087 3,682 Mar 3,172
3,371
3,811
3,526 4,103 Total 34,119
37,415
40,536
41,782
44,025
3,719
*Please note that a significant IT transition in June 2018 may have affected monthly totals for June.
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Annual summaries
April 2018 – March 2019
- Between April 2018 and March 2019 Cafcass received a total of 44,141 new private law cases.
- This figure shows a 5.6% increase compared with the previous financial year.
April 2017 – March 2018
- Between April 2017 and March 2018 Cafcass received a total of 41,844 new private law cases.
- This figure shows a 3.3% increase compared with the previous financial year.
April 2016 – March 2017
- Between April 2016 and March 2017 Cafcass received a total of 40,536 new private law cases.
- This figure shows an 8% increase compared with the previous financial year.
April 2015 – March 2016
- Between April 2015 and March 2016 Cafcass received a total of 37,415 new private law cases.
- This figure shows a 10% increase compared with the previous financial year.
April 2014 – March 2015
- Between April 2014 and March 2015 Cafcass received a total of 34,119 new private law cases.
- This figure shows a 27% decrease compared with the previous financial year.
All individual months, bar April 2014, saw the lowest number of new cases ever recorded by Cafcass for those months. May 2014 was the lowest number of new cases ever recorded for Cafcass.