Niall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail)
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307. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if she will provide an update on the operation of the Court of Appeal; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [49354/14]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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The scheduling of court cases and the allocation of court business is a matter for the Presidents of the courts and the presiding judge who are under the Constitution independent in the exercise of their judicial functions. The Court of Appeal was established by order of the Government on 28th October, 2014 and sat for the first time on Wednesday 5 November, 2014. The bench of the Court of Appeal comprises a President and nine ordinary Judges.

In relation to the civil business of the court, the Supreme Court has transferred a caseload of 1,368 civil matters to the Court of Appeal, including 258 cases that were already certified as ready for hearing. A further 78 new cases have been lodged. In relation to the criminal business of the court, sentence related appeals in approximately 140 cases that were ready to proceed have been listed for the current sittings. These cases are either appeals against severity of sentence or appeals by the Director of Public Prosecution on the ground of undue leniency. I am informed that as of the 11th December 2014, the court has disposed of 87 criminal appeal cases and in relation to the civil caseload it has heard and determined 15 interlocutory motions and disposed of 9 appeals.

The Judges of the Court of Appeal have developed new procedures for dealing with the caseload of the court which are designed to ensure that cases are managed from the date of the appeal. These procedures are set out in the Practice Directions of the President of the Court of Appeal and in the Rules of the Superior Courts, all of which are available from the Courts Service website. Written judgments of the court will also be published on the Courts Service website.