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 tenth 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 cases received per month nationally can be seen in the table below.
Latest release: We received 3,748 new private law cases in August 2020 which is 14 cases (0.4%) more than the same period in 2019. These cases involved 5,623 children, which is 103 (1.8%) more children than August 2019.
You can download August 2020 private demand data, which contains the latest official statistics for private law demand.
Private law cases received
2016-17
2017-18
2018-19
2019-20
2020-21
Cases
Children
Cases
Children
Cases
Children
Cases
Children
Cases
Children
Apr 3,466
5,173
3,133 4,705 3,462 5,232 3,609 5,437
2,570
3,923
May 3,169
4,773
3,627 5,524 3,636 5,604 3,853 5,925
3,361
5,166
Jun 3,481
5,252
3,814 5,777 3,390 5,146 3,617 5,533
3,808
5,809
Jul 3,372
5,070
3,615 5,433 3,681 5,708 4,269 6,503
4,587
6,991
Aug 3,438
5,220
3,639 5,484 3,944 5,990 3,734 5,726
3,758
5,623
Sep 3,494
5,236
3,547 5,493 3,428 5,213 3,724 5,729
Oct 3,377
5,102
3,813 5,798 3,977 6,023 4,283 6,520
Nov 3,491
5,241
3,745 5,719 4,010 6,044 3,954 6,072
Dec 2,842
4,302
2,740 4,143 3,043 4,727 3,219 4,924 Jan 3,238
4,893
3,507 5,290 3,558 5,452 4,028 6,086 Feb 3,328
4,994
3,090 4,722 3,627 5,556 3,833 5,835 Mar 3,811
5,694
3,526 5,398 4,069 6,137 3,396 5,160 Total 40,507
60,950
41,796
63,486
43,825
66,832
45,519
69,450
18,074
27,512
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Annual summaries
April 2019 – March 2020
- Between April 2019 and March 2020 Cafcass received a total of 45,694 new private law cases.
- This figure shows a 4.20% increase compared with the previous financial year.
April 2018 – March 2019
- Between April 2018 and March 2019 Cafcass received a total of 43,842 new private law cases.
- This figure shows a 4.9% increase compared with the previous financial year.
April 2017 – March 2018
- Between April 2017 and March 2018 Cafcass received a total of 41,794 new private law cases.
- This figure shows a 3.1% increase compared with the previous financial year.
April 2016 – March 2017
- Between April 2016 and March 2017 Cafcass received a total of 40,506 new private law cases.
- This figure shows an 8.3% increase compared with the previous financial year.
Updates to this information is published on an annual basis.