Written answers
Wednesday, 7 December 2022
Department of Justice and Equality
Courts Service
Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein)
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106. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of judges at each level of the courts in each of the years between 2016 and 2022, in tabular form. [61142/22]
Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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It is a priority for my Department to ensure that the courts are resourced to administer justice efficiently and effectively for citizens in their access to justice. The Government endeavours to fill judicial vacancies at the earliest opportunity, and a number of such vacancies have been filled recently.
The number of judges assigned to each jurisdiction for each year between 2016 to 1 December 2022 is provided in the Table underneath. The numbers provided include the Chief Justice, and the Presidents of the Court of Appeal, the High Court, the Circuit Court and District Court.
Court | 31/12/2016 | 31/12/2017 | 31/12/2018 | 31/12/2019 | 31/12/2020 | 31/12/2021 | 01/12/2022 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Supreme Court | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
Court of Appeal | 10 | 10 | 10 | 16 | 16+1 | 16+1 | 16 |
High Court | 38+2 | 38+2 | 38+2 | 38+2 | 38+2 | 43+2 | 44+1 |
Circuit Court | 38+3 | 38+3 | 38+3 | 38+2 | 38+2 | 38+2 | 38 |
District Court | 64 | 64 | 64 | 64 | 64 | 64 | 64 |
In the case of the High Court, under the provisions of the Garda Síochána Act, 2005 and the Courts (No. 2) Act, 1997, the number of High Court judges may be exceeded by one in each instance where a High Court judge is appointed as Chair of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission or as a member of the Law Reform Commission.
Finally, the appointment of Specialist Judges to the Circuit Court is provided for under the Personal Insolvency Act, 2012. At present, there are no specialist judges.
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