The Gazette 1994

GAZETTE

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER

1994

NEW BUILDING FOR LAWYERS

The official opening of the new Law Library Building, Church Street was performed by An

Taoiseach Albert Reynolds TD, (centre). Pictured right and left are the Minister for Finance,

Bertie Ahern TD and the chairman of the Bar Council, Frank Clarke SC.

that the new building had benefited

from the Government's Urban

Renewal Programme.

Additional Judges and Resources

The Taoiseach, Mr.

Albert Reynolds,

T.D., in a speech at the opening of the

new Law Library Buildings on October

7, 1994 stated that plans to rectify

problems in the courts service had been

finalised by the Department of Justice.

Mrs

Maire Geoghegan-Quinn

had

undertaken a major review of activity

levels in the courts and she would

shortly bring proposals to Government,

to solve the problems identified by the

review.

The main elements of the proposals

announced were:

cases being heard in both the Circuit

and District Courts.

In bringing forward these measures, the

Taoiseach stated that the Government

was conscious of the existing shortcom-

ings in the resources area of the judicial

system. The Government was stated to

be committed however to improving the

Courts service, and the Taoiseach was

confident that this substantial package of

measures would greatly assist in

eliminating the delays that users of the

Courts system currently faced.

In addition, the Taoiseach stated that a

committee has been set up under the

chairmanship of the President of the

Circuit Court, Mr. Justice

Francis

Spain,

to examine and report on the

numbers and boundaries of existing

circuits, with a view to preventing

arrears arising in the Circuit Court in

the future.

The 36,000 sq. ft three-storey building

has rooms and secretarial support

facilities for 90 barristers and will

also accommodate the offices of the

Bar Council. There are four meeting

rooms, including two large conference

rooms, a restaurant, bar and parking

for 36 cars.

Adjacent to the Four Courts, this is

i the first building that the Bar Council

actually owns. It will help alleviate

i overcrowding in the Law Library,

í which currently has over 900

members. From the end of the 1960s

the membership of the Law Library

doubled in 10 years, tripled in 15

I years and is likely to have quadrupled

by 1998, if not before.

i The £5.5 million reconstituted stone

building has been fitted with state-of-

the-art computer and security systems

| with internal mail and telephone

systems that enable close contact with

the Law Library.

In keeping with its neighbour, St.

! Michan's Church, it was designed by

architects Legge and Associates and

built by Michael MacNamara & Co.

Features include a polished granite

: entrance and a copper and glass roof

which maximises the natural light.

In his speech, the Taoiseach, Mr.

Reynolds stated that the idea of moving

even a part of the Law Library from the

I Four Courts must have been "terrifying".

! He said: "It was easier to put up with

over-crowding, and doing some work

from home, than to contemplate such a

major break with tradition."

He noted that the new building was, in a

sense, a symbol of change. It was a

! symbol of the great changes in our

society over the past thirty years, and

I nowhere was this change more evident

! than in the legal and the courts systems.

The Taoiseach continued that one

change, most obvious to barristers, had

been the enormous increase in the

I number of barristers using the Library

in recent years. Some might interpret

this as an indication of the rewarding

nature of a future in the legal

profession, but for many, the reality was

that supply far outstrips demand.

The Taoiseach was delighted to add

• The appointment of 1 additional High

Court Judge;

• The appointment of 6 additional

Circuit Court Judges;

• The appointment of 4 additional

District Court Judges.

By any standards, this was a major

injection of badly-needed resources into

the judicial system, according to the

Taoiseach. It would address the delays

in disposing of criminal cases, and it

would deal with the substantial increase

in the number of civil and family law

The Taoiseach looked forward to

receiving final recommendations from

the Law Reform Commission in the area

of family courts and family law cases.

On the subject of Courts reform, the

Taoiseach referred to a Bill to amend

the Courts Acts which was then

currently being prepared in the

I Department of Justice. This would

i include proposals to establish a new

Court of Appeal with civil and criminal

jurisdiction, comprised of full-time

judges. The new Court of Appeal would

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