Report highlights efficiency gains despite continued pressure from rising disciplinary caseloads
The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) sat for 32% more days in 2025 as it dealt with the continuing impact of a sharp rise in cases issued the previous year, according to its latest performance report.
The tribunal sat for 275 days in 2025, a substantial increase on 2024, reflecting efforts to manage higher case volumes mainly referrals from the Solicitors Regulation Authority. The tribunal said the operational effects of the increase in proceedings issued in 2024 continued to shape performance across several key measures during the year.
Despite the pressure, the SDT reported improvements in efficiency. The cost per sitting day fell by around 10% compared with the previous year, indicating greater utilisation of tribunal time and resources.
The tribunal also met its timeliness targets for issuing proceedings in most categories. It issued 97% of SRA applications within target timeframes and 100% of other applications on time.
However, the increase in caseload continued to affect the overall lifecycle of disciplinary proceedings. The SDT said delays in concluding some matters reflected both the complexity of cases and the volume of referrals received during 2024, which created a backlog still working through the system in 2025.
The report noted that agreed outcomes and adjournments remained significant factors influencing the duration of proceedings. These procedural features can shorten hearings but also affect how quickly cases reach final determination.
Alongside throughput pressures, the tribunal introduced changes to how it gathers user feedback, launching a pre-hearing feedback mechanism during 2025 after recognising the difficulty of obtaining responses once proceedings had concluded.
Commenting on the figures, clerk to the tribunal Ray Dhanowa said the statistics reflected both the resilience of the tribunal’s processes and the contribution of staff and members across the organisation.
The report forms part of the SDT’s programme of publishing detailed performance metrics across 10 key indicators, covering areas including issuing proceedings, determination timelines, judgment production, appeals, costs and user satisfaction.
Taken together, the figures suggest the tribunal increased hearing capacity significantly during 2025 while attempting to absorb the effects of a spike in disciplinary referrals the year before pressures that continue to influence how quickly some cases progress through the system.