Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 27 Jul 1927

Vol. 20 No. 14

PUBLIC BUSINESS. - COURTS OF JUSTICE BILL, 1927—SECOND STAGE.

The PRESIDENT

I move—

"That the Courts of Justice Bill, 1927, be now read a Second Time."

As Deputies are aware, it is provided by the Courts of Justice Act, 1924, that the Circuit Court constituted pursuant to that Act shall consist of not more than eight judges. It was, however, recognised by the Oireachtas that eight judges might not be able to dispose of the volume of business in the Circuit Court, which obviously could not be very accurately estimated until some experience had been gained of the working of the new court system in practice, and provision was accordingly made by Section 46 of the Act that whenever within three years after the commencement of Part II thereof the accumulation of business required it, there might be appointed such number of temporary Assistant Circuit Judges as the Minister for Justice, with the concurrence of the Minister for Finance, might determine.

Part II. of the Act was brought into operation in Dublin City and County on the 11th June, 1924, and generally throughout the country on the 6th August of that year. The time limited by Section 46 of the Courts of Justice Act, 1924, for the appointment of temporary Assistant Circuit Judges has, therefore, expired in the case of Dublin City and County, and will expire generally in the course of a few days. In asking the House to agree to an extension of the time limit for the appointment of temporary Assistant Circuit Judges, I should say that the volume of business in the Circuit Court has proved to be much greater than was anticipated. It is now clear, I think, that eight Judges are unable to cope with the business which falls to be disposed of from day to day, and that this number will have to be permanently increased.

The Government is, however, reluctant to ask the House to agree to any permanent increase in the number of Circuit Judges until the position has been very fully examined. It is clear that eight Circuit Judges will not be adequate for our permanent needs, but whether this number will have to be augmented by the appointment of one or of more than one additional Judge is a matter which calls for further consideration. For this reason a certain interval must elapse before I am in a position to submit permanent proposals in this matter to the House, and I will, therefore, ask the House to give a Second Reading to this Bill, the object of which is to ensure that in the meantime the business of the Circuit Court will not fall into arrear.

Captain REDMOND

In view of the circumstances of the moment I do not intend to oppose this Bill, but I am altogether against the principle underlying it, namely, the power to appoint temporary Assistant Judges. I do not think it is necessary for me to remind the House that on the occasion of the passage of the Courts of Justice Act I ventured to say that in my judgment eight Circuit Judges would not be sufficient for the task which they were called upon to undertake. I think that it should be now apparent to the Executive Council that eight Judges cannot perform this work. However, as the President has said that it is the intention of the Executive Council to appoint some extra Judges on a permanent basis, I will not oppose the passage of this measure, to-day; but I do want to protest against the principle of not providing adequate permanent Judges, because there is a great difference between a Judge appointed temporarily and one appointed to the position of a member of the independent Judiciary. The Judge who is merely a temporary Judge, no matter whether he be actuated by the highest moral motives, must necessarily find himself, and be in a different position from a person who is appointed as a permanent Judge independent of the Executive. I sincerely trust that shortly after the Dáil resumes the Executive Council will be able to tell the House that they have considered this question, and that they have come to a decision as to the number of permanent Judges that will be necessary in future to carry on the work of the Courts of Justice in the Saorstát.

Major COOPER

I hope that by passing this Bill we shall give a breathing space to the Government in which they will examine the Courts of Justice Act as a whole, not merely in regard to this one provision. In conjunction with Deputy Redmond four years ago I warned the Government that they were not appointing enough Circuit Judges. I also warned the Government that the system of appeal from the Circuit Courts through the medium of a shorthand-writer's notes would not work satisfactorily. It is now the general opinion of the Incorporated Law Society that it has not worked satisfactorily. It has cost far more than it was estimated to cost, and one does not get the same justice in reading over a shorthand-writer's notes as one would get from seeing a witness in the box. Like Deputy Redmond, I am not going to oppose the Bill because it gives the Government a breathing space in which to examine this question. I hope they will examine it not merely from the point of view of appointing two or three Assistant Circuit Court Judges, but from the point of view of how the whole system is working.

Question—"That the Bill be now read a Second Time"—put and agreed to.

Committee Stage ordered for Thursday, 28th July.