The Gazette 1993

GAZETTE

N E W S

Law Society/Bar Council

Submission on the Courts

MIWH

NOVEMBER 1993

On 22 September last, the Law

Society and the Bar Council made a

joint submission to the Minister for

Justice on the future funding,

structure and management of the

courts service. A summary of the

submission is published below.

Purpose

- The purpose of the submission is to

draw attention to the serious

problems that exist in the courts

service in this country, to heighten

public awareness and to put forward

recommendations for the

improvement and reorganisation of

the management of the courts.

(Section 1)

Vindicating Citizens' Rights

• Clearly, the effectiveness of the

courts in providing redress to citizens

and in vindicating their rights is

affected and undermined by the

current inadequate resources of the

courts system. It is clear that delay

and inefficiency in the service is

contributing greatly to the cost of

litigation and also imposing a

substantial burden on the commercial

life of the country.

(Section 2)

The Current Shortcomings

• Delays,

in the order of two and a

half to three years before a case

comes to trial, are becoming so acute

that it is not an exaggeration to say

that the system is grinding to a halt.

(Section 4)

• Courthouse accommodation

has

been seriously neglected. In almost

all the courthouses throughout the

country there is serious over-

crowding, inadequate facilities for

the public, judges, barristers and

solicitors, no family law facilities,

no public telephones or any kind or

refreshment facilities and a complete

lack of upkeep and maintenance. In

many of these courthouses sanitary

facilities are primitive and

unhygienic. Over recent years

Drogheda Courthouse, Co. Louth - a close-

up of the cracks in the wall at the courtroom.

spending on courthouse

accommodation has been seriously

curtailed with the result that

buildings of historical and

architectural importance are

threatened. Solicitors have had to

take mandamus proceedings against

the Minister to have essential work

carried out. The submission suggests

that a minimum of £5m must be

made available for courthouse

accommodation in the Courts' Vote

for 1994 and a programme of

refurbishment implemented over a 5

year period.

(Section 5)

• It is widely accepted that

family law

cases

require special facilities in

order to respect the dignity and

privacy of the individuals involved.

However, such facilities are virtually

non-existent. Delay is also a

problem. The submission

recommends examination of the

establishment of a special family law

court to deal with family cases.

Urgent consideration should be

given to appointing family law

practitioners as judges at both

District Court and Circuit Court

level. All appointees as judges

should receive initial induction

training in family law work and

there should be regular conferences

and seminars for members of the

judiciary to keep them up to date

with modern developments.

(Section 6)

• The Government has spent less that

£ l m (in total) over the past five

years on

information technology

the courts service. Modern

information technology systems are

vital to improve efficiency in

administration and to speed up the

handling of the vast amount of

documentation that goes into court

work. Sadly, manual systems are still

in widespread use throughout the

courts service. The Government

must provide the funding for a

modern and efficient information

technology system.

(Section 8)

• Pleading systems

and pre-trial

procedures need to be simplified and

a greater emphasis should be placed

on the submission of written

statements of evidence by the parties

to the case so as to reduce to a

minimum those areas of dispute

which need to be tried on sworn

testimony.

(Section 9)

• One of the worst features of the

present system of litigation is the

inefficiency of the listing system

under which there is no guarantee

that a case will be heard on the day

that it is listed. This results in

substantial additional costs being

incurred by the parties. Part of the

problem is the inadequate number of

judges available to hear cases. More

judges need to be appointed and a

proper appointments system should

be introduced.

(Section 10)

Additional Resources are Essential

• The delays currently being

experienced in the Circuit Court and

the High Court cannot be addressed

simply by a "reallocation of

resources" (as stated by the Minister

in reply to a recent Dail question).

Substantial additional resources -

principally the appointment of

337