DIVORCES AND judicial separations are down, while applications for guardianship from unmarried fathers and for custody of and access to children are up, according to the Courts Service annual report.
There was also a significant increase in debt and insolvency cases appearing before the courts last year, says the report.
Divorce and judicial separation applications fell last year for the second year in succession – since 2008 – and are now at the lowest level for almost a decade.
There were 3,357 divorce applications in the Circuit Court and 24 in the High Court in 2010, compared with 4,214 and 43 respectively in 2008. In 2002 the figures were 3,912 and 33 respectively.
Judicial separation applications, which are often obtained before a couple seek a divorce following a separation of at least four years, show a similar decline.
There were 1,393 such applications in the Circuit Court and 27 in the High Court last year, compared with 1,966 and 44 respectively in 2008. In 2002 the figures were 1,871 and 59 respectively.
Last year also saw a significant rise in childcare applications from the HSE. Supervision orders, where a family receives supervision from social workers, rose by 16 per cent, to 731, while care orders, where children are taken into the care of the HSE, rose by 11 per cent, to 1,046.
There was also an increase in applications relating to guardianship of children, custody and access, the vast majority of which were granted or withdrawn, normally following agreement.
There were 2,783 applications for guardianship in the District Court, of which 2,072 were granted, 643 were withdrawn or struck out and 68 were refused. This compared with 2,463 the previous year, an increase of 12 per cent. Most applications were from unmarried fathers.
Custody applications in the District Court were up 44 per cent to 1,380, of which 767 were granted and 574 withdrawn; there were 4,784 applications for access, of which 3,697 were granted and 995 withdrawn.
The Circuit Court saw an increase of 65 per cent in applications for judgment mortgages on 2009. This is a way of securing payment from a debtor if other options have failed.
The High Court dealt with 3,961 such certificates, an increase of 128 per cent on 2009. The Circuit Court saw 13,613 debt judgments during 2010, a rise of 25 per cent on the previous year and the District Court saw 30,000.
The High Court dealt with 3,207 debt-recovery cases, up 28 per cent on 2009.
The District Court issued 1,564 ejectment orders last year, up 76 per cent on the previous year. There has also been a trebling in bankruptcy cases in the last two years, with 29 bankruptcies granted in 2010 compared to eight in 2008.
There were 9,945 applications under domestic violence legislation, compared with 10,306 the previous year.
More than half of all applications for protection under domestic violence legislation were spouses, with common-law partners and the parents of adult children making up the balance.