Vol. 475 No. 6
139 Ms O'Donnell asked the Minister for Justice the number of petitions with her Department; the number finalised in 1996; the number of those finalised which were successful in 1996; the number of petitions pending which have run out of date while awaiting determination in 1996; the percentage of petitions submitted which were refused since the relevant High Court judgment on petitions; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5582/97]
There are just in excess of 5,000 petitions on in my Department and consideration of these will take account of the 1995 High Court judgment on petitions.
Deputies will be aware that I have told the House that I was preparing and would be issuing new guidelines which would take account of the judgment and which would assist both members of the public and public representatives to ascertain if there is a case to petition or not. These guidelines and copies of a new application form issued to all Members of both Houses yesterday. I will be taking separate steps to inform the general public of the new guidelines.
During 1996 a total of 295 petitions were finalised of which 21 were successful. Of the number of petitions finalised since the High Court judgment 96.2 per cent were unsuccessful. With regard to the element of the Deputy's question which refers to petitions running out of date I presume that she is referring to the status of warrants which are the subject of petition. The position here, as I have explained on previous occasions, is that a petition does not place a stay on the order of the District Court Judge. Notwithstanding the fact that a petition has been lodged by or on the defendant's behalf, if the fine is not paid within the time allowed by the judge, a warrant will be issued to enforce the court's decision as is the normal procedure in cases where fines are not paid on time. Section 1 (1) of the Courts (No. 2) Act, 1991 provides that a warrant must be issued within six months of the due date of payment of the fine imposed. Statistics in relation to warrants related to fines which are under petition are not maintained.
