Pennsylvania’s Unified Judicial System Monday released 2015 caseload statistics report containing data, charts and tables representing the work of Pennsylvania’s appellate, Common Pleas and limited jurisdiction courts.
“Caseload statistics are the single best way to describe what courts are doing currently and to help plan for what’s to come in the future,” said Chief Justice of Pennsylvania Thomas G. Saylor. “In this age of advanced technology, government agencies are expected to provide reliable and accessible data to the public, and the judiciary is committed to meeting that expectation.”
In 2015 Pennsylvania’s courts processed more than 3.5 million cases including:
-- 14,914 cases at the appellate court level;
-- More than 680,000 cases at the Common Pleas Court level, including 175,391 criminal cases and 168,145 civil cases; and
-- More than 2.8 million cases at the limited jurisdiction court level.
The caseload statistics outline the number of new cases filed, how many cases were processed and the number of cases carried over into the next year. Offense or charge category information, (i.e., property, motor vehicle, drug charges), is also included. The data also provides insight into the way in which cases were processed – for example, by guilty plea, settlement, diversionary disposition or whether a case went to trial.
Data published annually in the caseload statistics are used by the judiciary in policy development, program evaluation and workload analysis.
Data are also used by organizations outside the judiciary, including the legislature and other county, state and federal agencies to assist in policy development and planning.
Caseload statistics are posted on the judiciary’s Caseload Statistics webpage at pacourts.us or can be viewed via the System’s interactive dashboards.
More detailed county-level case information is available in the individual county caseload statistics reports as well as medical malpractice caseload reports. The website also has caseload statistical reports dating back to 1993.
