Ireland requires a root-and-branch review of procedural law to see whether it is fit for the State's courts going forward, a Supreme Court judge has said.
Mr Justice Frank Clarke said the need for a review of Ireland's civil legal process has been highlighted by the new appeals structure, including the Court of Appeal, set up in 2014.
“We need to consider whether the somewhat cumbersome edifice that has grown up by additions and renovations is really fit for purpose,” said Mr Justice Clarke.
“We need to consider whether we have not created unnecessary complication and whether procedures cannot be streamlined.”
Speaking at University College Cork (UCC), where he delivered the inaugural Kevin Feeney Memorial Lecture, Mr Justice Clarke said it was remarkable how little procedural law had changed in 140 years.
Reviews of procedural law have taken place in other common law jurisdictions such as Scotland, Hong Kong, Canada and, more recently, England and Wales.
“If our procedural law was up to date and working efficiently, then the old adage of ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ might well apply,” said Mr Justice Clarke.
“However, I question whether we really have procedures which are . . . fit for purpose in the context of modern litigation,” he said.
Among those at the lecture, entitled Courts for Today’s Ireland: A Civil Procedure Review to mark the State’s Centenary, were the late Mr Justice Kevin Feeney’s widow Geraldine and his brother Peter.
Structure unchanged
Mr Justice Clarke said that, up until the recent establishment of the Court of Appeal, the structure of the Irish courts had not changed much over the past 137 years.
The judge said that “the creation of a district court, presided over by full-time professional judges, as opposed to magistrates . . . was perhaps the other major change”.
However, the judge said that new rules of court have been adopted for the conduct of appeals and significant practice directions have been put in place with the establishment of the Court of Appeal.
“It is early days yet, but I think it is fair to say that the procedure and practice of the conduct of appeals . . . in Ireland is likely to change quite radically over the next number of years.”
Feeney tribute
Introducing the inaugural Kevin Feeney Memorial Lecture, Chief Justice Susan Denham paid tribute to Mr Justice Feeney, who died suddenly while on holiday in Co Cork in 2013.
“We remember a man of great charm, kindness, good humour, vitality and dedication . . . His judgments remain part of our jurisprudence and, I have no doubt, will stand the test of time.”
