The number of rape and drug offence cases appearing before the courts increased significantly last year, according to the Courts Service annual report.
The report, published this afternoon, shows the Central Criminal Court received 63 rape cases during 2010, an increase of 30 per cent on 2009 while the number of drug cases increased by 25 per cent over the same period.
There were 16 trials in the Special Criminal Court, a 60 per cent increase on 2009, suggesting the problem of dissident and organised gang activity is on the rise.
There was, however, a 32 per cent decrease in the number of murder cases.
The report shows that the number of people seeking to end their marriages is down, which may indicate the difficulty in unravelling joint financial lives during the recession. There were 1,420 applications for judicial separation during 2010, a drop of 13 per cent on the previous year and 3,381 applications for divorce, a decrease of 9 per cent on 2009.
Applications to have marriages annulled were down by 25 per cent on the previous year, with only 41 cases before the courts.
The majority of applications for judicial separation came from wives - 89 per cent in the High Court, 74 per cent in the Circuit Court. However, in the High Court, the majority seeking divorce were husbands.
Further evidence of the impact of the recession on family law is the increase in the number of applications for custody of children, which rose by 44 per cent last year. There was also an increase of 12 per cent in applications for guardianship of children by unmarried fathers.
Proof of guardianship or custody is needed to claim social welfare allowances for children, suggesting people are increasingly relying on these payments.
The report reveals an increase in debt and insolvency cases in all three jurisdictions of the courts. There was an increase of 65 per cent in applications for judgment mortgages in the Circuit Court. The same court saw 13,613 debt judgments during 2010, an increase of 25 per cent on the previous year, and the District Courts saw 30,000. The High Court dealt with 3,207 debt recovery cases, an increase of 28 per cent.
There has also been a trebling in bankruptcy cases in the last two years with 29 granted in 2010 compared to 8 in 2008.
The High Court made 116 orders to wind up companies, a decrease of 9 per cent on the previous year and there were 326 orders granted for possession, an 11 per cent increase on 2009.
However there was a 40 per cent fall in the number of new possession cases coming before the courts suggesting that lenders are exploring other options before resorting to possession.