The Gazette 1972

The new arrangements came into operation with effect from 1st August, 1970. Hie Dublin Circuit Court A particular problem arises from delays that have been building up in the Dublin Circuit Court in the trial of offenders and in the hearing of criminal appeals. To meet this situation, the President, on the recommend- ation of the Government, appointed an additional Circuit Court judge for the Dublin circuit for a period of two years from 6th December, 1971. This means that there are now four Circuit judges assigned to Dublin In addition the spare time of the provincial judges con- tinues to be utilised in the Dublin circuit. Since the appointment of the additional Circuit Court judge for Dublin, the delays in the hearing of cases have been reduced. At present, the average delay in the trial of an offence is six months as compared with eight months formerly. In the case of a criminal appeal, delay has been reduced from seven months to three months. I hope and expect that the position will continue to 'improve. It will be generally accepted that persons should be brought to trial or, as the case may be, have their appeals determined as speedily as possible. The rapidly-increasing volume of court business in Dublin in recent years has imposed a growing strain on available accommodation for the courts and court offices, particularly in the Four Court complex. It is now clear that the existing accommodation is no longer adequate and that the time has come for a complete reassessment of the present and future accommodation requirements of all the courts in Dublin. I am, therefore, setting up a small committee representative of the Departments immediately concerned to look into the matter. The President of the High Court has kindly consented to act as chairman of that committee which, I expect, will begin work immediately. The Dublin Children's Court The accommodation available to the Children's Court in Dublin leaves much to be desired. I have, accordingly, had the accommodation examined with a view to seeing whether it can be improved pending the outcome of the deliberations of the com- mittee I have mentioned. Certain proposals, designed to improve existing accommodation in the short team are at present under discussion between my Department and the Office of Public Works. Wide publicity has been given to statements that 16,000 children pass through the children's court rjinually. The figure of 16,000 refers, in fact, to the number of charges listed and not to the number of children. The number of children involved would be approximately one third of the number of charges. Staffing and Legal Aid The staffing requirements of the Circuit Court and the District Court are at present being re-assessed in the light of the increasing volume of work in these courts in recent years. The staffing situation will be reviewed in the light of experience of the increases in the juris- diction of these courts under the Courts Act, 1971. A review of the free legal aid scheme was completed in 1970. After discussions with the General Council of the Bar in Ireland and the Incorporated Law Society. An order was made on 7th October, 1970, increasing substantially the fees payable to solicitors and counsel under the scheme and providing for the payment of additionat fees and expenses in certain circumstances. 174

the service has to be kept under constant review in consultation with the other Government Departments concerned. In the year ended 31st December, 1971, 71 persons were naturalised as compared with 95 the previous year. This brings to 2,928 the total number of all persons naturalised since 1935, when provision for naturalisation was made. Film Censorship and Censorship of Publications In 1970, the latest year for which figures are available, the Film Censor examined 789 films with a total footage of 3,034,288. The number of films examined by the Censor in 4969 wac 843 and the footage examined in that year was 2,767,232. Of the total of 789 films which the Censor examined in 1970, 646 were passed without cuts, 70 were passed with cuts and 73 were rejected. The Censor issued 119 limited certificates. The Censor- ship of Films Appeal Board considered appeals in respect of 74 films. Sixteen of the appeals were rejected. Four films were allowed for general viewing without cuts, 13 for limited viewing without cuts and 41 for limited viewing with cuts. The Censorship of Publications Board examined 367 books and 13 periodicals in 1971. Five books were examined as a result of formal complaints from mem- bers of the public and 362 books were referred to the board by Officers of Customs and Excise. The board made 291 prohibition orders in respect of books and five in respect of periodicals. Appeals for revocation of prohibition orders were lodged with the Censorship of Publications Appeal Board in respect of five books, and five appeals were made for variation orders in respect of particular editions of books prohibited and a further five were brought forward from 1970. The Appeal Board made two variation orders. Under section 2 of the Censorship of Publications Act, 1967, a prohibition order imposed on the ground that a book was indecent or obscene ceases to have effect after 12 years. By virtue of this provision, 279 prohibition orders in respect of books ceased to have effect on 31st December, 1971. In the Public Record Office the amount of material being transferred continued to grow. The District Court I am not responsible for industrial schools, reformatory schools, St. Laurence's Centre for Delinquent Boys in Finglas, the remand home at Marlborough House in Glasnevin or the projected replacement of St. Conleth's School in Oberstown. I mention these places because Deputies may have been led to believe from references in the news media that they are controlled by my Department. Deputies may recall that an order made by my pre- decesor which came into operation on 1st April, 1969, provided for a general closedown of sittings of the District Court during the month of August and for short periods at Easter and Christmas and for the holding of special sittings as required to handle urgent business. In general, this system operated smoothly and successfully, met the convenience of the general public and contributed to the efficiency of the District Court. However, on the basis of practical experience of its working, I felt that a further improvement could be made by providing that, instead of special sittings as required, weekly vacation sittings would be held at a central venue in each District Court during the month of August, with additional sittings in Cork and Dublin.