Written answers

Tuesday, 12 April 2005

Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform

Courts Service

9:00 pm

Photo of Jim O'KeeffeJim O'Keeffe (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 746: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if a record is kept of the number of cases of judgments which have been reserved by a particular judge. [10897/05]

Photo of Jim O'KeeffeJim O'Keeffe (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 747: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if he has proposals to create a similar system to that in the UK whereby judges are given time off to write up their judgments as opposed to the situation here whereby they sit in one case directly after another. [10898/05]

Photo of Jim O'KeeffeJim O'Keeffe (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 748: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform his plans to increase the number of judges in the courts; and the number of judges sitting in the court system in 2003, 2004 and 2005. [10899/05]

Photo of Jim O'KeeffeJim O'Keeffe (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 753: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the procedure employed to deal with a case in which the judgment has been reserved; and if there is a maximum time limit within which a judgement must be issued. [10904/05]

Photo of Jim O'KeeffeJim O'Keeffe (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 754: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the longest delay there has been between the end of a court case and the issuing of a judgment. [10905/05]

Photo of Jim O'KeeffeJim O'Keeffe (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 755: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of times the State has been sued over the delays in the issuing of reserved judgments. [10906/05]

Photo of Michael McDowellMichael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 746, 747, 748, 753, 754 and 755 together.

As the Deputy may be aware, I recently signed the Courts and Court Officers Act 2002 (Register of Reserved Judgments) Regulations 2005, which came into effect on 31 March 2005. The regulations provide for the establishment and maintenance on computer by the Courts Service of a register of the judgments reserved by the Supreme Court, the High Court, the Circuit Court and the District Court. They set out where the various parts of the register are to be kept, the arrangements for getting a copy of an entry in the register and other relevant matters.

The information to be kept in the register includes the date on which judgment was reserved; the court before which the proceedings were heard and the name or names of the judge or judges concerned and, if the court is the District Court or the Circuit Court, the area or place where the judgment was reserved; the title of the proceedings or the nature of the proceedings; the relevant number of the proceedings; where relevant, the date or dates on which the proceedings were listed under section 46(3) of the Courts and Court Officers Act 2002; where relevant, the date specified under section 46(4), on which the judgment is to be delivered; and the date on which the judgment is delivered.

The Deputy has referred to the practice in the UK of giving judges time off to write up their judgments. In this jurisdiction, the allocation of judges and their caseloads is a matter for the President of the Court and, as Minister, I have no function in the matter. The issue of judicial resources is kept under continuous review. As the Deputy may be aware, the Civil Liability and Courts Act 2004 increased the statutory maximum number of judges by eight in total providing three in both the High Court and Circuit Court and two in the District Court. The number of judicial posts as of 31 December 2003 was 122. There are now 130 judicial posts.

The Deputy requested statistics on reserved judgments. Under the Courts Service Act 1998, the Courts Service is independent in the performance of its functions, which include the provision of statistics. As Minister, I therefore have no function in the matter. In relation to the Deputy's question on the number of times the State has been sued over the delays in the issuing of reserved judgments, information has not been compiled in such a way to readily provide the information sought. However, I am aware of four cases in which the State was sued in the European Court of Human Rights in recent years over the delays in the issuing of reserved judgments.

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