Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

I move amendment No. 6:

In page 9, to delete lines 12 to 18 and substitute the following:

7.—Section 48 of the Court Officers Act 1926 is amended——

(a) in subsection (1)—

(i) by inserting "by regulations made under section 3 of the European Communities Act 1972" after "him by statute", and

(ii) by inserting "by such regulations" after "provided by statute",

and

(b) by inserting the following after subsection (2):

"(3) An assignment under subsection (1) of a district court clerk to a district court area may be—

(a) a permanent assignment,

(b) a temporary assignment, or

(c) a temporary assignment in addition to any permanent assignment.

(4) Where subsection (3)(c) applies to a district court clerk, the temporary assignment concerned shall be without prejudice to the exercise of all such powers and authorities and the performance of all such duties and functions for the time being conferred or imposed on him or her by law in relation to any district court area to which he or she is permanently assigned.

(5) Where a temporary assignment under subsection (1) of a district court clerk to a district court area is made pursuant to a direction given orally under that subsection, the Courts Service shall cause a record in writing to be made and kept, in such manner as the Courts Service thinks fit, of the direction.

(6) A record in writing referred to in subsection (5) shall, in any proceedings, be evidence that the district court clerk to which the record relates was temporarily assigned to the district court area to which the record relates until the contrary is shown.".

This amendment restates the amendment to section 48 of the Courts Officers Act 1926 as it currently stands in the Bill. It goes on to provide that District Court clerks can be temporarily reassigned from their regular areas of work to other areas at short notice, for example, to cover colleagues who may be sick or on leave. Reassignments of this type are now done by a formal direction in writing given by the Courts Service. The amendment contemplates that such a direction can also be given orally to a clerk and that a record of that direction is to be kept. This record is to be evidence of the temporary reassignment until the contrary is shown. The change will encourage greater flexibility. Traditionally the reassignment of District Court clerks was the responsibility of the Minister but was reassigned to the Courts Service in 1998 by section 29 of and Schedule 2 to the Courts Service Act 1998.

See this speech in context