A REPORT from a high-level judicial committee has recommended to the Government that a referendum be held on the establishment of a new court of civil appeal.
The report was sent in July to Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern by the by Ms Justice Susan Denham who chaired the committee set up in March 2007 to consider the necessity for a new court.
The need for a court of civil appeal is widely recognised, as delays in the Supreme Court are now running at 26 months for ordinary cases. Priority cases are heard within six months.
Many of the Supreme Court appeals deal with relatively mundane matters, including cases brought by personal litigants where no major legal or constitutional issue is at stake.
According to legal sources the delay in cases getting to the Supreme Court is leading to some parties settling cases, even when they have a good case to go to appeal, as they cannot afford to wait for up to three years (including the time spent lodging the papers) for the case to be heard. This particularly affects family law clients, who could have an urgent need for a resolution of their issues.
A new court of civil appeal would aim at relieving the backlog by taking most cases out of the Supreme Court, allowing it to focus of constitutional issues and those involving complex matters of law.
However, there is no provision in the Constitution for a court of appeal from decisions of the High Court other than the Supreme Court. Article 34.4.3 states: "The Supreme Court shall, with such exceptions and subject to such regulations as may be prescribed by law, have appellate jurisdiction from all decisions of the High Court."
The question of whether a constitutional amendment would be necessary was considered by the committee, and it is understood it concluded that a constitutional amendment would bring certainty to the status of such a court.
The Court of Criminal Appeal, composed of a Supreme Court and two High Court judges, hears appeals from the Central Criminal Court, the criminal division of the High Court. Its constitutionality was challenged and upheld in a decided case, but that judgment refers to the specifics of this court, and there is no guarantee it would apply to a newly established court.
Ms Justice Denham also chaired the Working Group on a Courts Commission, which reported in 1996 and led to the establishment of the Courts Service and a number of other court reforms.
As well as Ms Justice Denham, the members of the committee are former Bar Council chairman Turlough O'Donnell SC; Mr Ken Murphy, director general of the Law Society; Mr Justice Iarfhlaith O'Neill of the High Court; Bob Browne, assistant secretary of the Department of Justice; Liam O'Daly, deputy director general, Office of the Attorney General; and Eoin O'Leary, assistant secretary, Department of the Taoiseach. Helen Priestley, head of the Courts Service Information Office, is its secretary.