Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I am pleased to present the Bill, which introduces important legislative reforms across a number of areas. The Bill is part of a suite of measures the Department of Justice continues to introduce to improve access to justice and modernise the courts system. While many of the amendments in the legislation are administrative in nature, when enacted it will have a positive impact on citizens, update the civil justice legal framework and further modernise and reform key areas of our civil law. The Bill includes amendments across a diverse range of areas including occupiers' liability, court offices, bankruptcy, Irish nationality and citizenship, international protection, immigration, legal services and the judicial council. The Bill comprises 15 Parts and I will now highlight key provisions.

Part 2 contains a number of amendments to the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956. The principal amendments to the 1956 Act relate to naturalisation of children born in the State. Section 8 amends the 1956 Act to set out a clear and specific procedure that will apply where a citizenship application is made for a child. It will reduce from five to three the number of years residence required for a person born in the State to become eligible for citizenship by naturalisation. This will allow children who are currently on a pathway to Irish citizenship to obtain that status at an earlier stage. The Government believes that providing a shorter pathway to citizenship is the right thing to do for these children. Section 8 also amends the 1956 Act to make further and clear provision for the continuous residence condition for naturalisation. This matter was the subject of judgments by the High Court and the Court of Appeal in 2019 in the case of Jonesv.the Minister for Justice and Equality. Other amendments to the 1956 Act in Part 2 will enable certificates of nationality to be authenticated by the signature of an authorised officer of the Minister, instead of requiring the Ministerial seal; and remove an anomaly that has been identified in the 1956 Act relating to the entitlement to Irish citizenship of grandchildren of Irish citizen officials posted abroad in the public service.

Part 3 contains amendments to the Civil Liability Act 1961, which provide that in future, the indexation rate for periodic payment orders will be set by regulations made by the Minister for Justice with the consent of the Minister for Finance. The amendments arise from a High Court decision on the existing indexation rate that it was not an appropriate index for use with periodic payment orders, PPOs. The amendments proposed will allow greater flexibility in the setting of the indexation rate and set out the general rule that a periodic payment order will be adjusted, on an annual basis, by reference to an index specified under the section.

Part 4 amends the Juries Act 1976 to streamline the summoning of jurors. Currently, each county register must summon jurors for his or her own jury district. These amendments will enable jurors to be summoned for all jury districts by one centralised office.

Part 5 contains amendments to the Bankruptcy Act 1988. These changes are designed to further modernise and streamline the bankruptcy process and to reduce unnecessary costs and delays for debtors, creditors, the High Court and, in effect, for taxpayers. They will further ensure that bankruptcy procedures support a thorough assessment, and efficient administration, of bankruptcy estates.

Part 6 proposes amendments to the Occupiers Liability Act 1995 in line with the government policy objective of restricting the liability of occupiers. These proposals strike the right balance between ensuring that businesses, community groups and organisers of events fulfil their duty of care responsibilities, while also acknowledging the importance of personal responsibility on the part of customers and members of the public. The amendments contain four key developments. It inserts into primary law a number of recent court decisions that rebalance the duty of care owed by occupiers to visitors and recreational users; changes the standard to clarify that when the occupier of a property has acted with reckless disregard for a visitor or customer, it is the standard of reckless disregard rather than reasonable grounds that should apply in any consideration of liability; limits the circumstances in which a court can impose liability on the occupier of a premises where a person has entered onto premises for the purpose of committing an offence; and allows for a broader range of scenarios where it can be shown that a visitor or customer has voluntarily assumed a risk resulting in harm. It is hoped that these changes will have a positive effect on the reduction of insurance costs.

Part 7 amends the Civil Liability and Courts Act 2004 in relation to pre-action offers to settle clinical negligence claims and the transfer and use of certain dormant court funds. Section 45 inserts a new section 17A dealing with pre-action offers to settle clinical negligence claims. The term "offer to settle" is defined as an offer made by a party to a clinical negligence action to settle the claim to which the action relates in accordance with the pre-action protocol. The overall effect of the amendment is to allow a pre-action protocol to be developed that addresses the particular nature of settlements in respect of all clinical negligence cases.

Amendments to the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015 in Part 8 will enable commencement of the section of the Act allowing for the introduction of legal partnerships, which will enable partnerships between solicitors and barristers or between barristers and other barristers. In addition, Part 8 contains a number of amendments which primarily relate to how the annual imposition of a levy on legal practitioners used to fund the Legal Services Regulatory Authority, LSRA, and the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal is calculated. It seeks to ensure that the levy model is sustainable and fair.

Part 9 amends the International Protection Act 2015. The amendments include provisions for the service of notices and documents by electronic means and the extension to the timeframe for which voluntary returns to a person's country of origin may be confirmed from five to 30 days on foot of a recommendation in the Catherine Day report. An amendment is included to provide that a decision of the Circuit Court on an appeal of a revocation of a refugee or subsidiary protection declaration is final, other than an appeal to the High Court on a point of law. Finally, an amendment is included to increase from three years to five years the term of office of the members of the International Protection Appeals Tribunal.Part 10 provides for a number of amendments to the Data Protection Act 2018, which include conferring jurisdiction to hear data protection actions on the District Court as well as, as it currently stands, the Circuit Court and High Court, and broadens the circumstances in which a reprimand can be issued by the Data Protection Commission. Conferring jurisdiction on the District Court will enable faster, less costly access to remedies for the public.

Part 11 amends the Judicial Council Act 2019. Section 75 will allow for the temporary replacement of a member of the complaints review committee by providing for an alternate member of the committee to substitute for the absence of a member. The amendment also provides for the recusal and replacement of a judicial member of the committee in circumstances where that judge is the subject of a complaint or otherwise has a conflict of interest in the context of a complaint. Section 76 clarifies the role of the Judicial Council's investigations into the conduct of a judge, providing for investigations of judicial misconduct in the absence of, or after withdrawal of, a complaint.

Part 12 amends the Civil and Criminal Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2020. It updates definitions of "criminal proceedings" and related matters. Further amendments provide for optional remote meetings of unincorporated bodies such as golf clubs and voluntary committees and provide for the interfering of hearings held remotely to be considered an offence under the Act.

Parts 13 and 14 make further amendments with regard to courts and court officers. These include amendments to: enable the Courts Service to designate any court office as a centralised office for the purpose of carrying out specified court business exclusively or in addition to a local office; update the qualifications for appointment as Master or Deputy Master of the High Court; and outline the circumstances in which a county registrar will cease to hold office and circumstances in which Government may remove a county registrar from office. This is to clarify the removal provisions applicable for county registrars ensuring that a statutory process is in place that respects the constitutional rights of persons concerned. It also aligns with the modernised provisions in place with regard to other quasi-judicial officers, such as legal cost adjudicators. It also confers express statutory powers on the president of the Circuit Court and president of the District Court to issue practice directions. It provides for an offence of obstruction or interference with a sheriff under the Court Officers Act 1945 to provide legislative protection for sheriffs in the discharge of their functions and permits a single judge of the Court of Appeal to hear certain specified applications and appeals, which is intended to improve efficiency and reduce costs.

Finally, among the amendments provided for in Part 15 are those amending the Immigration Act 2004 to ensure that permissions for non-nationals to land or be in the State can be renewed or varied without the holder of the permission having to make application for renewal in every case, and inserting a new section 5A into the Arbitration Act 2010 to permit third-party funding in limited circumstances, specifically with regard to international commercial arbitration.

In conclusion, this Bill introduces a number of important reforms in the law across a broad range of areas. These amendments reach across many aspects of people's lives and have the potential to make a real difference. I look forward to the debate this afternoon and I commend the Bill to the House.