Plans for the new Courts Service have received a serious setback, with District and Circuit Court clerks rejecting restructuring proposals. Clerks in the High Court and Supreme Court are still considering proposals to integrate staff with the lower courts.
The vesting day for the Courts Service is November 9th. It had been expected to conclude negotiations for all grades by the end of September, as the courts resume full sittings this month.
However, so far only the Civil and Public Service Union, representing clerical staff being transferred from the Department of Justice, and members of the Association of Higher Civil and Public Servants, which represents senior management grades and court registrars, have accepted the proposals.
The main objection of PSEU members to integrate the existing structures into the Courts Service is that it provides for no regional structures or promotional outlets for its members.
The deputy general secretary of the PSEU, Mr Tom McKevitt, said yesterday that the union accepted the need for new management structures and that detailed terms could not be negotiated between now and vesting day. He said it would be necessary to obtain firm commitments from management on staffing levels and the introduction of regional structures if PSEU members were to accept the arrangements.
Mr Peter Nolan of IMPACT said substantial movement had been made in addressing the concerns of his members, and they would probably decide to have a ballot later this week.
With the opening of the new law term today, the higher courts return to normal five-day sittings. For the past two months only vacation sittings, for urgent matters, have been taking place, and the court offices have been closed during the afternoons.
However, this could be one of the last October openings of the legal year. One of the questions raised by the Denham Working Group on the courts was the length and timing of the legal vacations. These include August and September, as well as Christmas, Easter and Whit holidays.
While the Denham group pointed out that a lot of business was conducted in the vacations, and it did not support reducing their duration, it raised the possibility of changing the summer vacation from August and September to July and August, eliminating the Whit week.
Such a course has been supported by the Law Society, which polled its members and found a large majority in favour. Mr Ken Murphy, director-general of the Law Society, pointed out that this would be more convenient, not only for solicitors, but for the public.
While the Bar Council has no particular views on whether the vacation takes place in July and August or August and September, a spokeswoman stressed that the council felt that the two months were necessary.
The new Courts Service will examine this issue in consultation with the judges and the representatives of the two branches of the legal profession, when it is formally established.