Tony Killeen (Clare, Fianna Fail)

I understand the point made by Senator Alex White. The strong argument against making the change he proposes which de facto does not make the change the Bill proposes is that it is impractical with regard to the time it takes. In any event, I have not been able to find any circumstances in which the proceedings as followed in the manner provided for previously could be of any subsequent assistance. An enormous workload would arise were this to be required in all cases.

The 1851 provision states:

Whenever any Justices shall proceed to hear and determine any Complaint or Information to an Offence, they, or One of them, shall, when required so to do by either Party, or his Agent, take or cause to be taken a Note in Writing of the Evidence.

This is a major practical undertaking and during the century and a half since it was enacted, this provision has evolved considerably. The petty sessions themselves are a thing of the past and in the vast majority of cases, the justices who sat on them were unpaid part timers and frequently were not lawyers. At present, we have District Court judges who are whole-time appointees with legal qualifications and experience, each sitting alone in the District Court.

The procedures for the hearing of criminal trials and of civil trials have made considerable advances since early Victorian times. The strongest argument advanced by the Minister is that this provision, of which the Bill seeks to dispose, is of no practical benefit at this stage and has considerable capacity to delay matters.

The annual throughput of cases in the District Court is approximately 650,000. That number has increased rapidly and it is likely to increase in the future. Just under 70% of cases relate to criminal offences, which range from the most minor parking infringements to offences involving violence, theft to offences involving violence, theft, public disorder and the like, and the overall trend is upwards every year. Were district justices to be asked, in even a small proportion of those cases, to take a written note of the evidence, the work rate of the court would not be able to keep up with demand. The major underlying reason for making this change is that no practical use is being made of the provision currently and were it to be invoked in a substantial number of cases, it would result in an unmanageable workload for the courts, which would be unable to proceed as heretofore.