Separation and divorce applications on the rise

There are tentative signs of improvements in business and financial sectors, the 2013 annual report of the Courts Service indicates.

But there are growing strains within families — with increases in separation and divorce applications as well as a continuing rise in domestic violence-related orders. There was also a jump in international child abduction cases involving a parent.

The report backs up figures by both An Garda Síochána and the DPP detailing reductions in criminal prosecutions in the courts, from the large volume of less serious cases in the district court to the more serious offences in the higher courts.