Gay Mitchell
Ceist:238 Mr. G. Mitchell asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of judges or justices at each court level in each of the years 1960, 1980, 1990 and 2002. [14849/02]
Written Answers. - Judicial Appointments.
The records held by my Department do not allow me to provide information in the form requested by the Deputy. The maximum number of judges provided for in statute for each court level is set out hereunder.
The Courts (Supplemental Provisions) Act, 1961, fixed the number of ordinary Supreme Court judges at four. The Courts and Court Officers Act, 1995, provided an increase in the number of ordinary judges of the Supreme Court to seven.
The number of ordinary High Court judges provided for by the Courts (Supplemental Provisions) Act, 1961 was six. This was increased by the Courts Act, 1973 to seven. The Courts Acts of 1977 and 1979 increased this number to nine and 12, respectively. This number was subsequently increased by the Courts (No. 2) Act, 1981 to 14, by the Courts Act, 1985 to 15 and the Courts Act, 1991 to 16. The Courts and Court Officers Act, 1995 increased the number to not more than 19 and the Courts Act, 1997 increased this to 22. The Courts (No. 2) Act, 1997 provided for a further increase of two bringing the number of ordinary judges to 24. The Courts and Court Officers Act, 2002 has provided for an increase in the number of ordinary judges of the High Court to 26.
The number of ordinary Circuit Court judges provided for by the Courts (Supplemental Provisions) Act, 1961 was eight. This was subsequently increased by the Courts Act, 1964 to nine. The Courts Act, 1977 increased the number to 11, which was further increased by the Courts Act, 1981 to 12 and the Courts Act, 1985 to 15. The Courts Act, 1991 provided for an increase in the number of Circuit Court judges to not more than 17, which was subsequently increased by the Courts and Court Officers, Act 1995 to 24. This was further amended by the Courts Act, 1996, bringing the ordinary number of Circuit Court judges to 27. The Courts and Court Officers Act, 2002, increased this to 30.
The number of ordinary judges of the District Court provided for in the Courts (Supplemental Provisions) Act, 1961 was 38. The Courts Act, 1977 increased this figure to not more than 39. The Courts Act, 1991 increased this figure to not more than 45. The Courts and Court Officers Act, 1995 further increased this number to 50. The number of ordinary judges of the District Court has been further increased to 52 by the Courts and Court Officers Act, 2002.