The number of cases dealt with across all courts in Northern Ireland fell slightly in 2025 compared with the previous year, according to figures published today by the Department of Justice.

The statistical bulletin also recorded a decline in the use of out-of-court disposals during the same period. These alternatives to prosecution include cautions and fixed penalties.

Data on prosecutions and convictions are broken down in the bulletin by court type, gender, age, and offence category. A similar disaggregation applies to out-of-court disposal figures.

The information is drawn from the Causeway Data Sharing Mechanism, an interconnected IT system that carries records from the Police Service of Northern Ireland, the Public Prosecution Service, and the Northern Ireland Courts and Tribunals Service.

The Department of Justice classifies the bulletin as official statistics, produced in line with the Code of Practice for Statistics. The next edition, containing 2026 data, is expected in early summer 2027.