The District and Circuit Courts should be merged in a reform of the court system, according to the Chief Justice, Mr Justice Keane. This should be accompanied by a two-tier appeal court, with civil and criminal divisions, he said.
Mr Justice Keane, speaking to a meeting of the Law Society in UCC at the weekend, proposed the setting up of another working group to consider reform of the court structure.
He pointed to the delays in the system and said: "There is a need for a twofold strategy: a re-examination of the present court structure in existence since 1924, and a significant increase in the number of judges at the three first-instance levels, the District, Circuit and High Courts."
On the jurisdictions of the courts, he said there seemed to be no rational basis for the distribution of serious crime between the Circuit Court and the Central Criminal Court.
"It has never been explained why, if murder and rape can be tried only in the Central Criminal Court, the same does not apply to, for example, kidnapping, manslaughter, robbery with violence and massive fraud."
Some delays were caused by a shortage of judges, he said. "Ireland has the lowest number of judges per head of the population in the European Union." But dealing with this problem alone would not be enough. Defects in the court system would also have to be tackled.
"Instead of two courts at the local level, there could be one court, the District Court with increased jurisdiction embracing some of the present Circuit Court jurisdiction.
"The jurisdiction of the Circuit Court in serious crime could then be exercised by the High Court. The High Court would then sit outside Dublin regularly in criminal cases, as it does already in a great range of civil cases involving personal injuries."
This should be accompanied by a two-tier appeal structure, he said. "There would be a permanent court of appeal sitting in two divisions, civil and criminal. The Supreme Court, in the result, would deal only with civil and criminal cases where a point of law of general importance was involved and with constitutional cases."
The Working Group on a Courts Commission was very successful, he said, and a similar group should be set up to examine the court system and recommend changes.
The Chief Justice's paper will be discussed at a council meeting of the Law Society next week, and the Bar Council is also considering his proposals.