Courts backlog prompts appointment of new judges
Eight new judges are to be appointed to the courts system to clear a backlog of pending cases, it emerged tonight.
Justice Minister Michael McDowell said the extra judges would speed up the hearing of cases in three parts of the courts system.
The Government approved placing an extra three judges on both the High Court and Circuit Court benches, while an additional two judges will be sitting in the District Court.
The Civil Liability and Courts Bill, which provides the eight judges, was already passed through the Seanad and is now before the Dail.
Conor Maguire, chair of the Bar Council, said: “It is very necessary for the efficient working of the system.”
Mr Maguire said there are not sufficient judges to deal with either criminal or civil cases.
He said the Bar Council, which has already made submissions to the Bill, would agree with the appointment of extra judges for criminal trials.
Mr Maguire said in some cases when a trial cannot be heard due to insufficient judges some of the people are kept in custody longer than they should be.
“On the civil side there is clearly a backlog of cases and there are often parties ready with witnesses but there is no court space,” Mr Maguire said.
A report prepared by the the Committee on Court Practice and Procedure has also made a submission to the Government which called for the appointment of more judges in an attempt to quicken the process.
Supreme Court judge, Mrs Justice Denham, the committee chairman who presented the report to Mr McDowell, claimed an adoption of new approaches would benefit people taking personal injury cases and the defendants.
A Courts Service spokesman said there is constant pressure from the number of cases to be heard.
Around 390,000 criminal matters come before the District Court each year.
There are 30 judges sitting in the High Court, 31 in the Circuit Court and 53 looking after the District Court.
Judges have been moved around between different courts and worked extra hours to cut down on the backlog in some places such as murder and rape cases in the Central Criminal Court.
There is currently a waiting time of around 12-months for the Central Criminal Court and the Special Criminal Court, while there is none in the Supreme Court.
Mr McDowell said the extra resources from the Bill will help the system deal with an ever increasing workload of both civil and criminal cases.
He said the provision of three High Court judges will reduce the delays in the rape and murder cases heard in the Central Criminal Court.
