The former president of the District Court has indicated he would support the establishment of dedicated family law courts at district level.
Speaking at the launch of an Amnesty International report on violence against women, Judge Peter Smithwick said he had always tried to ensure family law cases occurred on a dedicated day but these were often "fitted into" the rest of the day's proceedings.
He had supported the introduction of the "in camera" rule for family law cases, but this meant proceedings went on "behind closed doors".
Because of this, he suggested that a court reporter be considered. In addition, proceedings could be electronically recorded, which would "tie in" with the idea of confining such cases to larger centres, he said.
He said that while women do perpetrate violence against men, such violence was "fairly rare", and not as high as the 50 per cent suggested in some quarters.
The Amnesty report, titled Justice and Accountability - Stop Violence against Women, sharply criticises the Government for failing to prevent, investigate and punish violence against women.
It warns that the Government is in breach of international human rights law if it does not take steps to protect women. Seán Love, Irish director of Amnesty International, said there was a "huge silence" in the media and society about violence against women. Although there was an "awful lot of rhetoric" from Government and Opposition parties about dealing with violence, the most dangerous place for many Irish women was in the home.
Mr Love read a letter sent to the Garda by a victim of violence, who had been forced to move home and change her job after the man who assaulted her was released from jail. This was because a book of evidence had not been compiled in time.