The Gazette 1993

OCTOBER 1993

GAZETTE

PR E S I D E N T 'S

M E S S A G E

The Government Must Act on the Courts Service

At every available opportunity throughout my year as President I have highlighted my own concern and the concern of members of the profession throughout the country about the current state of our courts service. The culmination of our efforts in this regard was a very detailed submission which the Society, supported by the Bar Council, forwarded to the Minister for Justice on 21 September last, setting out our views about the future management of the courts service and what needs to be done to ensure that Ireland has a modern, efficient service which ensures that people have proper access to justice and can vindicate their rights and pursue their just entitlements. A day later, the Law Society and the Bar Council held a joint press conference to publicise the contents of the submission. I was particularly pleased at the joint approach by ourselves and the Bar Council. As practising lawyers we often have the unhappy task of trying to explain the shortcomings of the current system to clients who are justifiably bewildered by the delay and antiquated procedures they encounter, and indeed, who are not above laying the blame for these matters at the door of their solicitor or counsel. It was a valuable opportunity to express concern for our clients' interests and also our own desire to see a better service in place. I hope it will be the first of many joint initiatives by the two practising professions on issues of mutual concern, whereby by co-operating we can add weight to our efforts At our press conference I said that acute underfunding of the service for many years and poor management of the courts at central level in Government had led to a situation which had now reached crisis point.

THE LAW SOCIETY

l At the joint Law Society/Bar Council press conference to publicise details of the submission were l-R: Frank Clarke, SC, Chairman of the Bar Council and Raymond Monahan, President of the Law Society.

law court, the need for reform of the | pleadings system and pre-trial procedures and a more efficient listing I system, the need for more resources for the courts, including an end to embargos on the filling of staff vacancies, the appointment of extra judges, spending on information technology, and recommended a new management structure - an executive agency - first suggested in the Devlin Report almost 25 years ago. i The submission now rests with the Minister of Justice and we await her response with interest. So far the only indication of a response from Government was a media report which indicated that the Minister of State at the Department of Justice, William O'Dea TD, had "dismissed" the idea of an executive agency because he felt it would interfere with the independence of the judiciary and could also be unconstitutional. This is a disappointing response, and we hope that the Minister of State will examine the idea in greater depth. In ' (Continued on page 293)

contributing greatly to the high cost of litigation in this country and is, therefore, imposing a substantial burden on the commercial life of the country. The present state of affairs is completely unsatisfactory and requires urgent action. Citizens are entitled to look to the courts for the vindication of their rights and they must have access to a system of justice that is efficient, speedy and cost-effective. Delay in hearing a civil case is now of the order of two and a half to three years in the High Court and in the principal Circuit Court areas. This is proof that the courts system is not serving the needs of the public. Our joint submission described the principal shortcomings of the existing service, examined delays in the courts and documented the appalling conditions and lack of facilities in many courthouses around the country especially facilities for the hearing of family law cases. It urged examination of the setting up of a special family

There is little doubt that the I inefficiency of the service is

291