Legal Aid in Northern Ireland - Annual Statistics to March 2026
Date published:
This bulletin presents legal aid statistics for Northern Ireland up to March 2026. It includes information on the number of applications granted, and authorised expenditure, for both criminal and civil cases.
While the primary focus is on the 2025/2026 financial year, comparisons are provided, where possible, back to 2019/2020. This baseline year coincides with the launch of the Legal Services Agency Northern Ireland’s digital case management system (LAMS), introduced as part of a wider transformation programme.
This publication is the first of two Legal Aid Official Statistics releases scheduled for 2026. A second release, to be published later in the year, will provide more detailed analysis of legal aid utilisation by both applicants and providers across Northern Ireland.
To assist with the interpretation of our annual statistics and how they are produced, please view our Annual Statistics User Guide.
A copy of the full report, along with supporting documents can be accessed using the links below.
For the HTML full version report, please visit:
For the tables and PDF infographic, please visit: