The Gazette 1952-1955

ticularly advantageous position to understand the needs o f particular localities and to advise the Minister thereon and the powers o f the Minister under these Sections should not be exercisable on official advice alone. S ections 8 and 13. The Council submit that there is no case for the reduction in the number o f Circuit Judges from 10 to 9. The increase in the jurisdiction o f the Circuit Court is bound to be followed by a great increase in the number o f cases to be decided. This appears to require an increase rather than a reduction in the number o f Judges. The transfer o f jurisdiction at the lower end to the District Court is unlikely to compensate for the extra volume o f work re­ sulting from the increase in the upper limit of jurisdiction. In the opinion o f the Council the present number o f District Justices will be unable to deal with the increased volume o f work arising from the increased jurisdiction o f the District Court. The Council strongly oppose the practice of appointing : (a) temporary Judges and District Justices and; ( b ) assistant District Justices whose remuneration is lower than that o f an ordinary Justice, as being contrary to the principle of the independence o f the Bench. They submit that the Bill should include a Section prohibiting such appointments. The exercise o f judicial functions by persons without security o f judicial tenure and remuneration is contrary to the spirit of the Con­ stitution and public policy. The following suggestion is submitted for consideration by the Minister. Power should be taken if necessary to appoint a number o f permanent but unassigned Circuit Judges and District Justices, with security o f tenure and o f pay, with the first right o f succession in order o f priority o f appointment to vacant permanent assignments. Every Circuit Judge and District Justice should be appointed in the first instance on this basis as a travelling member o f the Judiciary with the obligation to do duty in any part o f the country to which he may be sent from time to time by the Minister acting on the advice of the ap­ propriate Rules Committee. The proposal has two advantages—( a ) temporary arrears o f work could be quickly dealt w ith ; (b) experience gained in different parts o f the country should be valuable. It is obvious that the proposed increase o f the jurisdiction o f the lower Courts will result in con­ gestion o f work which is against the public interest, and the Council submit that instead o f reducing the number o f Judges and Justices power should be taken to appoint additional permanent travelling

members of the Judiciary so that the citizen will not be denied his right to speedy justice. S ection 9. Extension o f civil jurisdiction o f the Circuit Court. The Council approve o f the extension of the jurisdiction in contract and tort from £300 to £600. They also suggest that the jurisdiction in lunacy matters under Section 2 o f the County Court Lunacy (Ireland) Act 1888 and transferred by Section 51 o f the Courts of Justice Act 1924 should be in­ creased in the same proportion as the increise in contract and tort. It has been stated that an ambig­ uous position arises when the value o f the corpus is within the jurisdiction and the annual value of the property above it or vice versa. The position should be clarified if necessary in this respect. The Council oppose the extension o f the juris­ diction in Section 9 (i) ( b) relating to title to land and section 9 (i) ( c ) in probate and equity matters. It is considered that the present limits o f jurisdiction, based on the value o f the corpus and the annual value o f the lands, are adequate and that in some parts o f the country the County Registrars’ offices are insufficiently staffed on the‘equity side to deal with the additional work proposed. There is at present adequate and satisfactory machinery in the Examiners’ office o f the High Court for dealing with the work now proposed to be transferred. S ection 14. The powers o f the Minister under this Section should not be exercisable except after consultation with the District Court Rules Committee for the same reasons as those given in regard to sections 6, 7, 10, and 1 1 above. S ection 15. The Council approve o f the increase in juris­ diction proposed to be conferred by this Section with the following additions :— (a) There is no logical reason for increasing the jurisdiction o f the District Court in contract without increasing it in tort and it is suggested that the tort jurisdiction should be increased to £25. It is frequently the experience o f country solicitors that clients with small claims in tort will not incur the expense and delay o f a Circuit Court action and that the retention o f the present limit o f jurisdiction, having regard to the change in the value o f money, is, in effect, a deprivation o f justice in many cases.