Approval For 20 Additional Judges Secured.

• An additional 20 Judges to be appointed on a phased basis as part of the continuing implementation of the Judicial Planning Working Group Report.
• Approval follows assessment of impact of 24 new judges appointed in 2023 – shown to have had a positive impact on number of court sittings, number of cases resolved and waiting times.
• Additional 20 appointments will support the establishment of the Family Courts.

Approval has been received for 20 additional judges to be appointed on a phased basis, to support timely access to justice across the courts system.
The report from the Judicial Planning Working Group, (set up in February 2021) in their final report published in 2023, recommended the appointment of 44 additional judges in two phases.

A first phase of 24 additional judges was approved and appointed throughout 2023. This built on other judicial appointments brought the total number of additional appointments to 31.
Following the completion of an assessment on the impact of the judges appointed in Phase 1 and progress made in other areas of the report’s implementation, the appointment of a second phase of 20 additional judges has now been approved.

The impact assessment also highlighted the need for Phase 2 of additional judicial resources to build on the progress already made.

Areas identified for continued focus to enhance the timely administration of justice across the courts include:

1. Further reducing waiting times and increasing clearance rates.
2. Enabling the courts to support new and growing areas of business.
3. Facilitating additional training days for judges to ensure that the Judiciary are attuned to the needs of victims and equipped to deal with increasing case complexity.

Actions which have been delivered in the first phase of judicial expansion include:

• An initial trial project to stagger the court vacation was ran in the High Court this summer.
• The Presidents of the Circuit and District Courts are working with the Courts Service to develop protocols for scheduling sittings on all five working days of the week (Monday – Friday).
• Cases are being stacked in the same courtroom where feasible (i.e. one judge conducts a hearing in the morning and another judge conducts a hearing in the afternoon in the same courtroom) and to increase the use of hybrid and remote hearings to maximise the use of courtroom space.
• A report has been completed which has examined further reforms to empower the Court Presidents to ensure the maximum and efficient use of judicial resources in their court jurisdictions.
• A stakeholder engagement group, which comprises representatives of the Department, the Courts Service, judicial observers and affected stakeholders, continues to meet regularly to consider the impact of the implementation of the JPWG recommendations on stakeholders and to identify cross-organisational efficiencies, which may arise in this context.