Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 138: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the extent, if any, to which changes are required to address any backlog in the courts system; if there are particular areas identified as being in need of specific attention in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16902/11]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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The management and administration of the courts, as the Deputy will be aware, is a matter for the Courts Service. The allocation of the business of the courts, scheduling of court cases and the management of court lists are matters for the judiciary and the Presidents of the courts. The Deputy will also be aware that judges are, subject to the Constitution and the law, independent in the exercise of their judicial functions.

I am informed that the judiciary monitor waiting times and backlogs of court cases on an ongoing basis to ensure that delays are kept to a minimum. Measures introduced by the President of the High Court have resulted in marked improvements with many cases now receiving trial dates within a single legal term. Additional judges are frequently assigned to Circuits and to Districts to assist with the disposal of cases where backlogs have arisen. The Courts Service works with the judiciary to ensure that all cases are dealt with and disposed of as speedily as possible.

Notwithstanding this I intend to take action, within my area of responsibility as Minister, to seek to address particular problems as they arise. For example, following a judgment last year of the European Court of Human Rights I recently established an Expert Group under the chair of Mr Paul McDermott, SC to consider, inter alia, how delays might be alleviated.

As the Deputy will be aware, an area of particular concern is the backlog at Supreme Court level which currently stands at 37 months. There is a commitment in the Programme for Government to establish a court of appeal and in this regard my Department is further considering the report of the Working Group on a Court of Appeal chaired by Mrs. Justice Susan Denham.