The Courts Service Bill, now before the Seanad, is expected to be in force by the beginning of the law term starting in October, according to the Department of Justice.
The Act will introduce an independent management system for the courts which will be known as the Board of the Courts Service. It will have its own chief executive and staff and will alter the culture surrounding the operation of the legal system.
The Act is based on the third report of the Working Party on the Courts Commission, chaired by Ms Justice Susan Denham, "Towards the Courts Service". The new Courts Service will manage the courts, their buildings and infrastructure and provide a support service for judges. It will also provide information on the courts to the public, which has not been available before.
This will require changes in the work of all those involved in running the courts - clerical staff, court clerks, registrars and judges. While the Bills putting the structures in place have been moving through the Oireachtas, Ms Justice Denham has been discussing the report's management concepts and techniques with those directly involved.
"As part of the process towards a new Courts Service, I have enjoyed speaking to staff and judges at approximately 40 seminars this year," she told The Irish Times.
Among those affected will be court clerks, who are represented by the Public Service Executive Union. They attended a seminar on the Courts Service Bill in Killiney, Co Dublin, some weeks ago, according to Mr Tom McKevitt, deputy general secretary of the union. He said the seminar was addressed by people from the courts service in the US.
"Court clerks welcome the idea of a new Courts Service. They were never too pleased with the existing system. It will be essentially an independent service and it's not right in this day and age that the courts should be run by the Department of Justice. But how it will work out will all depend on what money can be got from the Department of Finance."
The Courts Service will have a budget and the power to acquire or dispose of land or other property; arrange staff training and education; recommend scales of court fees; recommend the distribution of courts business; and designate court venues.
The system as it is now has its roots in the last century and was established with the foundation of the State. "It was born to fail," said Ms Justice Denham.
The Constitution provides for separation between the legislature, executive and the judiciary, yet the courts came under the Department of Justice. The actual administration was the responsibility of the presidents of the different courts and, as the volume of cases and the complexity of the law increased, so did the fragmentation and the danger that the system would collapse.
Because the Irish working party studied court systems worldwide, its report has become essential reading for other countries planning a centralised management for their courts. "Our first report has just been translated into Lithuanian," said Ms Justice Denham.