THOUSANDS of Circuit and District Court cases have been postponed across the country in the last two months because of a shortage of judges.
Since the current legal term began, the Dublin Circuit Court has been short at least one judge every week, the Courts Service has said. And this week Dublin was short three judges due to unfilled vacancies and sick leave.
Numerous civil cases have been affected by the shortages.
Circuit Court sittings at Sligo town; Naas, Co Kildare; Roscommon town; Tralee, Co Kerry; Longford town; Birr and Tullamore, Co Offaly; and at Ballina and Westport in Co Mayo have either been postponed or curtailed.
At District Court level over the past two months, sessions were postponed three times at Newcastle West in Limerick and at Roscrea, Co Tipperary twice.
There are three District Court and four Circuit Court vacancies. These are over and above those to be filled by the recently announced impending appointments of three District Court judges.
Judges Patrick Durcan and Gráinne Malone will take up their positions once they have completed their training. And solicitor Michael Coughlan, who has been nominated for appointment but not yet sworn in, will take up his position in the new year.
The Department of Justice said the cancellation of court sittings resulted from the judicial vacancies and from the unavailability of seven Circuit Court and two District Court judges. A complex trial which has taken longer than estimated had also contributed to the cancellations.
“Every effort is being made by the judiciary and the Courts Service to keep this disruption to a minimum,” a spokeswoman for the department said.
She also said Minister for Justice Alan Shatter did not envisagefurther appointments until after legislation to reduce judges’ pay has begun, on foot of last month’s constitutional referendum.
The permanent assignment of judges to a number of district areas would be made “in due course”.
In the meantime, a number of “moveable District Court judges” were covering the districts at the direction of the president of the District Court, she said.
