Couples under the age of 18 are more likely to have their marriage applications approved by a court in Westmeath than in any other county, according to figures published this week in the Court Service Annual Report.
The Court Service's annual report for 2007 revealed that the Circuit Court office in Westmeath received just 19 Section 33 applications from young couples seeking approval to marry, one of the lowest numbers of applications in the country. Sixteen of these were granted. When compared to Galway - where 47 applications were received and only eight granted - these figures show that the majority of applications are approved in Westmeath.
Section 33 of the Family Law Act allows the court to dispense with the necessity to give three months' notice of intention to marry and/or to allow people under the age of 18 to marry.
The report also showed that in Westmeath there were 37 cases for judicial separation dealt with by the Circuit Court in Westmeath; 26 of these were initiated by women and eight of these were granted. None initiated by a husband were granted.
There were 82 divorce cases, 52 initiated by the wife, with 41 of these granted.
Compared to many areas of the country the registry in Mullingar had the least number of intestacy cases. which are initiated when a person dies without making a valid will. In 2007 there were 86 intestacy cases, down from 118 in 2006. The registry also dealt with 254 probates in 2007, down from 265 in 2006.
Criminal cases were dealt with by the Circuit Court within six to nine months in 2007 with appeals being dealt with at the following sitting.
At Athlone District Court criminal cases were dealt with within one month. At Mullingar the wait was a month and a half.
Athlone District Court heard a total of 538 public order cases last year. In Mullingar District Court there were fewer cases at 361.
When it came to drugs cases, Mullingar had 180 cases involving 153 defendants; 18 defendants were imprisoned or detained. In Athlone there were 38 cases involving 19 defendants, but only two of these defendants were imprisoned or detained.
There was one sexual offence case in Athlone which was taken into consideration. In Mullingar there were three cases but all of these were dismissed.
Road traffic offences featured highly in the report with 1,858 cases in Athlone, the majority of which were struck out (951 cases ), while in 424 cases there were fines and 359 cases were taken into consideration. In Mullingar there were 1,923 cases, the majority being dismissed (856 ), in 428 cases there were fines and 236 cases were taken into consideration.
