Headline Statistics

An Official Statistics Publication.

Published by:
Information & Analysis Unit
Legal Services Agency NI
3rd Floor, AIB Building
92 Ann Street
Belfast
BT1 3HH

Contact: Information & Analysis Unit

Theme: Legal Aid

Email: IAU@lsani.gov.uk

Coverage: Northern Ireland

Frequency of Publication: Annual

Publication date: 29th May 2025

Key Findings

In 2024/25, a total of 61,573 cases were granted legal aid. Of these, over two-thirds (67.5%; 41,570) were criminal cases with 32.5% (20,003) representing civil cases granted by the Agency.
At 61,573, the number of applications granted in 2024/25 shows a 3.6% reduction on 2023/24 (63,881).
While the number of criminal grants in 2024/25 (41,570) decreased by 6.1% compared with 2023/24 (44,260), the number of civil grants increased by 1.9% (from 19,621 to 20,003) during the same period.
A total of £119,990,900 was authorised from the legal aid fund in 2024/25. This represents the highest annual total on record, and a 5.2% increase on the previous year when expenditure totalled £114,007,192.
In 2024/25, authorised expenditure was split fairly evenly between criminal (50.8%) and civil (49.2%) cases.
While criminal expenditure increased by 15.1% between 2023/24 and 2024/25, civil expenditure fell by 3.3%.
In 2024/25 just under £68.0m (56.6%) of legal aid expenditure was authorised to solicitor firms, with just over £51.5m (42.9%) authorised to barristers.

1. Applications Granted

A total of 61,573 legal aid applications were granted in 2024/25. This represents a decrease of almost 4% compared with 2023/24 (63,881).

Of those applications granted in 2024/25, over two-thirds (68%; 41,570) were criminal cases with 32% (20,003) representing civil cases granted by the Agency. (Figure 1.1; Table 1.1).

Figure 1.1: Breakdown of Legal Aid Grants

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Table 1.1: Breakdown of Legal Aid Grants

	Applications Granted 2023/24	Applications Granted 2024/25	Change from 2023/24 (%)
All	63,881	61,573	-3.6
Criminal	44,260	41,570	-6.1
Civil	19,621	20,003	1.9

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1.1 Criminal Grants of Legal Aid

Criminal legal aid comprises both criminal Advice and Assistance (PACE) and representation in Criminal Courts, the latter of which is granted by the Judiciary, though is subsequently administered through the Agency, including payment of bills.

In 2024/25, the largest single category of criminal grants was for Magistrates’ Courts cases, totalling 20,252 and equating to 85% of all criminal court grants. At 41,570 grants in 2024/25, the number of criminal legal aid grants decreased by 6% compared with 2023/24 (44,260). This trend is consistent across all criminal court tiers as well as criminal advice (AA-PACE) that shows a decrease of 7% between 2023/24 (19,025) and 2024/25 (17,705: Figure 1.2; Table 1.2).

Figure 1.2: Breakdown of Criminal Legal Aid Grants

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Table 1.2: Breakdown of Criminal Legal Aid Grants

	Applications Granted 2023/24	Applications Granted 2024/25	Change from 2023/24 (%)
All Criminal	44,260	41,570	-6.1
AA-PACE	19,025	17,705	-6.9
Criminal Courts	25,235	23,865	-5.4
Magistrates’ Courts	21,467	20,252	-5.7
County Court Appeal	1,343	1,281	-4.6
Crown Court	2,308	2,231	-3.3
Criminal Court of Appeal	51	46	-9.8
Extradition	66	55	-16.7

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1.2 Civil Grants of Legal Aid

The number of civil applications granted in 2024/25 (20,003) shows a moderate increase of almost 2% compared with the previous year (19,621).

While the greatest volume of civil grants in 2024/25 was for Representation Lower cases (7,719; 39%), the Representation Higher category of service displays the greatest increase since 2023/24, up by 9% (614). In contrast, granting of Advice and Assistance and Exceptional Funding applications fell by 490 (10%) and 6 (21%) respectively (Figure 1.3; Table 1.3).

Figure 1.3 Breakdown of Civil Legal Aid Grants

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Table 1.3: Breakdown of Civil Legal Aid Grants

	Applications Granted 2023/24	Applications Granted 2024/25	Change from 2023/24 (%)
All Civil	19,621	20,003	1.9
Advice and Assistance	5,055	4,565	-9.7
Representation Lower	7,455	7,719	3.5
Representation Higher	7,083	7,697	8.7
Exceptional Funding	28	22	-21.4

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2. Authorised Expenditure

A total of just under £120.0m was authorised during 2024/25. This total expenditure was split evenly between criminal and civil cases, with criminal expenditure totalling just under £61.0m (51%) and civil expenditure just over £59.0m (49%).

This level of authorised expenditure (£120.0m) represents the highest annual total on record, having increased by almost £6.0m (5%) since 2023/24. This has been driven by an increase in criminal authorised expenditure that has risen by 15% (£8.0m) in the past year. In contrast, civil expenditure has fallen by 3% (£2.0m) over the same period (Figure 2.1; Table 2.1).

Figure 2.1: Breakdown of Legal Aid Expenditure

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Table 2.1: Breakdown of Legal Aid Expenditure

	Authorised Expenditure 2023/24 (£)	Authorised Expenditure 2024/25 (£)	Change from 2023/24 (%)
All	114,007,192	119,990,900	5.2
Criminal	52,964,144	60,957,531	15.1
Civil	61,043,048	59,033,369	-3.3

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2.1 Criminal Authorised Expenditure

The observed increase in criminal legal aid expenditure during 2024/25 (£8.0m; 15%) is primarily the result of a £6.5m increase in authorised Crown Court expenditure, which rose by over a quarter (26%) since 2023/24 to account for 52% of all criminal spend (Figure 2.2; Table 2.2).

While authorised expenditure for Magistrates’ Courts cases also displayed a notable increase in 2024/25 (up £2.7m; 14%), this was offset to some degree by a decrease in spend on Criminal Court of Appeal cases (down £1.1m; 27%).

Figure 2.2: Breakdown of Criminal Legal Aid Expenditure

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Table 2.2: Breakdown of Criminal Legal Aid Expenditure

	Authorised Expenditure 2023/24 (£)	Authorised Expenditure 2024/25 (£)	Change from 2023/24 (%)
All Criminal	52,964,144	60,957,531	15.1
AA-PACE	2,286,396	2,200,134	-3.8
Criminal Courts	50,677,749	58,757,395	15.9
Magistrates’ Courts	19,465,984	22,199,846	14.0
County Court Appeal	730,382	886,339	21.4
Crown Court	25,161,037	31,637,131	25.7
Criminal Court of Appeal	3,997,672	2,930,475	-26.7
Extradition	1,322,674	1,103,607	-16.6

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2.2 Civil Authorised Expenditure

Within civil legal aid, the greatest proportion of 2024/25 expenditure was authorised in respect of Representation Higher cases, totalling just under £46.2m which equates to over three-quarters (78%) of all civil spend (Figure 2.3; Table 2.3).

Overall, authorised civil expenditure in 2024/25 decreased by 3% (£2.0m) compared with 2023/24 (£61.0m). This was driven by a 12% reduction in Representation Higher spend (falling by just under £6.4m) which was netted off by increases across all other civil categories of service. Of particular note is the 274% increase (£2.5m) in Exceptional Funding spend over the past year which was the result of an increased number of bills for legacy cases being authorised.

Figure 2.3: Breakdown of Civil Legal Aid Expenditure

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Table 2.3: Breakdown of Civil Legal Aid Expenditure

	Authorised Expenditure 2023/24 (£)	Authorised Expenditure 2024/25 (£)	Change from 2023/24 (%)
All Civil	61,043,048	59,033,369	-3.3
Advice and Assistance	1,693,051	2,429,299	43.5
Representation Lower	5,886,778	6,984,092	18.6
Representation Higher	52,536,182	46,150,141	-12.2
Exceptional Funding	927,037	3,469,837	274.3

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3. Authorised Expenditure by Provider Type

In 2024/25 just under £68.0m (57%) of legal aid expenditure was authorised to solicitor firms, with just over £51.5m (43%) authorised to barristers. Payments to solicitor firms increased from 2023/24 by just over £5.1m (8%) while barrister expenditure also increased, but by a lesser amount of just under £0.8m (2%: Figure 3.1; Table 3.1).

Figure 3.1: Breakdown of Authorised Expenditure by Provider Type

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Table 3.1: Breakdown of Authorised Expenditure by Provider Type

	Authorised Expenditure 2023/24 (£)	Authorised Expenditure 2024/25 (£)	Change from 2023/24 (%)
All	114,007,192	119,990,900	5.2
Solicitor Firms	62,884,201	67,952,773	8.1
Barristers	50,735,190	51,534,139	1.6
Third Party Payees	387,801	503,988	30.0

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3.1 Authorised Expenditure to Solicitor Firms

In 2024/25, authorised expenditure to Solicitor Firms was split evenly between criminal (£34.0m; 50%) and civil (£33.9m; 50%) cases (Figure 3.2; Table 3.2).

While criminal payments to Solicitor Firms increased by 17% (£5.0m) since 2023/24, civil payments remained consistent at £33.9m.

Unsurprisingly, authorised criminal expenditure is dominated by criminal court cases while the civil equivalent is dominated by Representation Higher (Figure 3.2; Table 3.2).

Figure 3.2: Breakdown of Legal Aid Expenditure to Solicitor Firms

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Table 3.2: Breakdown of Legal Aid Expenditure to Solicitor Firms

	Authorised Expenditure 2023/24 (£)	Authorised Expenditure 2024/25 (£)	Change from 2023/24 (%)
All Criminal	29,007,003	34,027,526	17.3
Criminal Courts	26,720,798	31,827,494	19.1
AA-PACE	2,286,205	2,200,032	-3.8
All Civil	33,877,196	33,925,247	0.1
Advice and Assistance	1,488,560	2,129,403	43.1
Representation Lower	5,653,824	6,664,363	17.9
Representation Higher	26,387,795	24,195,483	-8.3
Exceptional Funding	347,017	935,998	169.7

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3.2 Authorised Expenditure to Barristers

During 2024/25, a slightly larger proportion of authorised expenditure to Barristers was in relation to criminal (52%; £26.9m), than civil (48%; £24.7m) cases. While criminal expenditure (comprised entirely of criminal courts) to barristers increased by 13% (£3.0m), civil expenditure fell by 8% (£2.2m) since 2023/24 (Figure 3.3; Table 3.3).

Figure 3.3: Breakdown of Authorised Expenditure to Barristers

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Table 3.3: Breakdown of Authorised Expenditure to Barristers

	Authorised Expenditure 2023/24 (£)	Authorised Expenditure 2024/25 (£)	Change from 2023/24 (%)
All Criminal	23,887,921	26,877,555	12.5
Criminal Courts	23,887,921	26,877,555	12.5
All Civil	26,847,269	24,656,584	-8.2
Representation Lower	201,879	290,811	44.1
Representation Higher	26,065,370	21,831,934	-16.2
Exceptional Funding	580,020	2,533,839	336.9

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About this publication

This publication is the third in a series of Official Statistics to be released by the Legal Services Agency Northern Ireland (LSANI).

While the two previous annual releases contain an in-depth analysis of legal aid activity in Northern Ireland, subsequent engagement with users identified a need for a timelier release of top level, headline statistics.

In response to this need, IAU agreed to produce two separate annual publications going forward. The first will outline key, headline statistics for the latest year (drawing some comparison with the previous year), with the second release later in the year providing a more granular picture of legal aid while looking at trends back to 2019/20 when LSANI’s digital case management system (LAMS) went live.

Accordingly, this output summarises applications granted as well as authorised expenditure for criminal and civil cases at a headline level. The more detailed 2024/25 publication is scheduled for release in Autumn 2025.

A publication schedule for all future Official Statistics is available on the LSANI website.

Publication Notes

Copyright and Licencing

This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated.

Under the terms of this Licence, you may use and re-use the information contained in this publication (excluding logos) free of charge in any format or medium with only a few conditions as set out via the hyperlink above.

Official Statistics

Official Statistics are statistics produced by Crown bodies and other organisations listed within an Official Statistics Order, on behalf of the UK government or devolved administrations. They provide a factual basis for assessment and decisions on economic, social and environmental issues at all levels of society. This broad definition of official statistics means that the scope of official statistics can be adapted over time to suit changing circumstances.

Our statistical practice is regulated by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR).

OSR sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics that all producers of official statistics should adhere to.

You are welcome to contact us directly with any comments about how we meet these standards. Alternatively, you can contact OSR by emailing regulation@statistics.gov.uk or via the OSR website.

User Engagement

We welcome comment and feedback on these statistics. If you would like to forward your views or be added to our mailing list to be informed about future publications, please use the contact details provided at the top of this publication.

Technical Notes

Please note that while the complete user guide associated with Information & Analysis Official Statistics is available at LSANI Annual Statistics User Guide, the most relevant technical information related specifically to this bulletin are as follows:

The Legal Services Agency Northern Ireland

The Legal Services Agency Northern Ireland supports the justice system and enables access to justice by administering publicly funded legal services impartially, effectively and efficiently within the established governing legislative and policy framework.

The Agency decides on applications for civil legal services against the statutory financial and legal tests to determine whether an individual should receive support. The Judiciary is responsible for granting criminal legal aid for defendants in criminal cases. The Agency also makes payments to the legal profession for services provided under both the criminal legal aid and civil legal aid services schemes while ensuring value for money.

Authorised Expenditure

Authorised expenditure presented in Official Statistics releases will differ slightly to formal financial positions released by the Department as Fund expenditure. This is due to a number of accounting differences.

Suppliers of legal aid services

Since 2019, in order to be granted authority to provide, and be remunerated for, legal aid services in Northern Ireland, suppliers have been required to register (and be approved) on the legal aid case management system (LAMS). There are three main types of supplier:

Solicitor Firms are made up of solicitors who will be the first point of contact for an eligible person seeking access to justice. Certificates are issued to a Firm who may, given the nature and complexity of the case, seek certification for counsel who will be attached to the case.
Barristers may also be referred to as counsel and comprise a mix of Junior (BL) and Senior (KC) counsel.
Third party payees typically provide an interpretation/translation service. Several third parties are registered with LSANI to provide various forms of such services including face-to-face, sign language and written translation services. While each registered supplier is capable of submitting their own requests, including the submission of bills, on occasion a single bill may result in payment to a solicitor firm and counsel – for example, upon submission of a taxed bill of costs drafted by the Taxing Master.

Interpreting data

These figures are built from data snapshots extracted from a live IT system (LAMS) at fixed points in time, ensuring consistency of reporting across years. While care is taken when entering, processing and analysing the data, they are subject to inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale administrative recording system.

Furthermore, these databases are dynamic and any updates made subsequent to the taking of an extract, will not be reflected in figures produced from the extract. For this reason, real-time figures may vary slightly to those presented with this publication.

Exercise caution when interpreting these figures as counting rules and data collection methods may have changed over time. Please refer to the linked data sources for further information.

Numbers and Percentages

Within the report, percentages and expenditure figures have rounded either to the nearest whole number or to one decimal place. For this reason it may appear that totals do not appear to tally.

Percentages calculated on base numbers of under 100 should be treated with caution to avoid drawing unwarranted conclusions.