The Gazette 1978

GAZETTE

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1978

significant arrears in relation to both criminal and civil business which at present face all the Courts. These are not, I think, due to any refusal or failure on the part of the Judiciary to work with sufficient energy and for sufficient periods. Rather they are due to the insufficient number of Judges in various areas which itself flows, probably, from the fact that even if such Judges were appointed, there are not sufficient Courts in which they can sit. Extension of adequate staff essential Furthermore, and I speak here mostly from my own experience in the High Court, the recent explosion in the amount and diversity of litigation before the Courts has not been matched by a sufficient awareness of the necessity for extending the staff attached. Really efficient, highly qualified Court staff with time properly and adequately to carry out its duties is an absolutely vital element in the Administration of Justice. Speaking for myself I unreservedly say that the staff attached to the Courts is one of the most dedicated, efficient and highly qualified to be found in any part of the public service. They are, however at present, in numbers grossly inadequate. Judicial responsibility for control of staff. I do not believe that this inadequacy in Court accommodation with its consequential inadequacy in the numbers of the Judiciary and the inadequacy in the number of Court staff flows from any desire on the part of either the Legislature or the Executive (and I am speaking of successive Legislatures and successive Executives) to denigrate the role of the Judiciary or the status of the Courts. Rather, I believe that it flows from a failure on the part of both these constitutional organs to appreciate the requirements of the Courts, the way in which they work and the importance of the various elements, other than the mere members of the Judiciary, in the carrying out of the duties of the Courts. That lack of awareness itself arises to a very large extent from the failure of the Oireachtas to provide by legislation for the proper participation by the Judiciary itself, who are after all the persons charged with the constitutional duty of administering the law and most likely to know precisely what is required for that purpose in the decision making processes concerning the servicing of the Courts. The absence of these statutory structures has, over almost the entire period since the institution of this State, led to a running, if mute, battle between the Judiciary and the Executive and Legislature with regard to the staffing and building of Courts. To it and to the problems that arise from it there is, in my view, only one satisfactory and final solution. To a very large extent and subject only to the qualifications necessary for the protection of public expenditure, the administration of the Courts, structuring, recruitment, training and organisation of their staffs and the provision of the appropriate accommodation for them should be under the control of the Judiciary. In a word the Courts require, to a very large extent, to become an independent republic. I am conscious of the possible accusation that speaking as a member of the Judiciary I am seeking merely to increase its influence and power. A comparison however between the structure affecting the administration of the Courts by the Judiciary and that of any other public or even private organisation would, I think, make this charge unfounded. The Chief Justice, a person who at any time holds the responsibilities of my office, the President of the Circuit Court and the President of the District Court have, by Statute, various

appropriate accommodation in which to carry out the trial of the cases which come before it. The corresponding duty undo- the Constitution which falls upon the Legislature and the Executive cannot therefore be passive only. It is not sufficient as indeed in general they have always done that the Legislature and the Executive should abstain from seeking to interfere with Judges in the decision at which they will arrive. They have, it seems to me, an active constitutional duty in regard to the separation of the powers created by the Constitution. That active duty is, in the case of the Legislature by the Acts of Parliament which it passes and in the case of the Executive by the decisions it makes and the moneys it makes available:— (1)To provide a sufficient number of Judges appropriate to each of the Courts for the body of litigation which at any time is coming before those Courts; (2) To provide both at present and into the future at any given time a sufficient number of appropriately trained and qualified persons to staff the Courts; and (3) To provide sufficient appropriate and adequate Court accommodation at every level. In short, it seems to me, that there is a clear constitutional duty imposed upon the Legislature and the Executive adequately and properly at all times to service the Courts. The successive Executives have, in my opinion, failed and continue to fail to provide that active obligation towards the independence of the Judiciary. Provision of adequate Courthouses essential. The members of this Society are now, thanks to the energy and initiative of the Incorporated Law Society, being educated in physical surroundings which are functionally excellent and pleasingly elegant. They are, of course, being trained to be practising lawyers. When they enter practice their almost universal experience will be that the first tribunal in which they will be called upon to act as an advocate, will be the District Court. Certainly for those outside Dublin and, to a large extent, even for those practising inside Dublin as well, they will move from these spacious and well laid-out halls to practise, for the first time, their art of advocacy which they have been taught, in conditions which in some instances are of almost indescribable inadequacy and of total lack of elegance. It is difficult to understand the failure to provide, or have provided, appropriate Court accommodation throughout the country and, in particular, in the District Courts. It cannot, it seems to me, arise from the cost of so doing. The modern Court does not require to be the ornate stone built building which the Victorian concept of the dignity of justice required. The dignity of justice arises not from the fabric of the building but from its capacity with courtesy and calm to accommodate the people who have resorted to it and, of course, from the dignity and integrity of the person who sits in it as a Judge. I would venture to say that a very great number of totally appropriate and adequate courthouses for the sitting of Courts, both in Dublin and in the country, could be provided with the equivalent of the total State contribution to one large luxury hotel. Apart from the inadequacy of the actual courthouses which are in many places at present provided there are too few courthouses provided at every level from the High Court to the District Court inclusive. We appreciate that there is some awareness of this and that steps have been taken particularly with regard to the Four Courts which may ease it in the future. Practitioners amongst the audience must be aware of the very 22