The chairman of the Bar Council has written to the Tanaiste warning her that the proposal to deal with personal injury claims through compensation boards may be unconstitutional.
"It is the considered view of the Bar Council that there may be serious practical, legal and constitutional problems attending this proposed scheme," Mr Rory Brady's letter said. The scheme with its attendant bureaucracy could impose further layers of costs on government and litigants, it said.
The council acknowledged that its interests were those of the members of the Bar. Barristers are set to lose out if the proposed compensation boards go ahead as planned. However, it added that it also had concerns with the administration of justice and the public interest.
Similar concerns were expressed by the Law Society, representing solicitors. Referring to the machinery surrounding the proposed boards, it warned: "In essence, a sort of parallel courts system would be set up throughout the country to attempt to `first guess' the existing courts system, which is already established and operating efficiently."