The second annual report of the Supreme Court launched today, offers a comprehensive insight into the important and varied work of the Court during 2019. The report details significant improvements in waiting times, with the previous backlog of old / legacy cases now dealt with. In 2019, there was a 19% increase in the number of new applications for leave to appeal filed, when compared to the previous year. 229 new applications for leave to appeal were filed last year.
At the same time there was a 56% increase in the number of such applications determined (decided) by the Court. This increased to 248 in 2019. There were also 144 full appeals finalised. The Court’s 9 full time and 2 ex officio judges issued 133 full, written reserved judgments.
There were also significant increases in the number of appeals disposed, of and in the number of written judgments delivered by the Court.
Revised rules and a revised practice direction were introduced early in 2019 which encouraged and allowed for the increase in the numbers of cases determined – and the decrease in waiting times. This was also aided by a new pilot system to facilitate online filing of applications for leave by practitioners, which was also introduced.
A modern case management approach along with the new rules have worked very well and have made a real contribution to the just and efficient determination of appeals.
In November a new text of the Constitution was enrolled in the Office of the Court. This was only the 6th such enrolment, the last one having occurred some twenty years ago in 1999. Pursuant to Article 25 5 3° of the Constitution this text is conclusive evidence of the Constitution and is the definitive text.
The court is grateful for the significant work undertaken by the Department of the Taoiseach, the Attorney General’s Office and the Office of the President. The staff of the Office of the Supreme Court are proud to be responsible for its safe custody.
The report also sets out the involvement of the court in both national and international initiatives outside the courtroom.
The Chief Justice Mr Justice Frank Clarke has pointed out three elements of the report:
- As a result of a review of the early years of the experience of the operation of the reformed jurisdiction of the Supreme Court there is a clear reduction of the time within which applications for leave to appeal are considered by the Court.
- The new structure allows for a decision on whether to grant leave to appeal to be taken within no more than ten weeks - provided that there is broad compliance by the parties with those time limits.
- The hearings in the appeal process in cases where leave has been granted is now reduced to 122 days or almost exactly four months.
"This third element of the time taken to get a final determination of an appeal is, of course, the period between the hearing and the delivery of judgment. In that context there are regular listings of all cases where that period exceeds two months and I am happy to say that the number of cases
appearing in such lists in recent times have been at the lowest since that practice was introduced.
New Protocols have been introduced to ensure efficacy in case management – and the required attention for constitutionally significant cases: Because the Supreme Court has now cleared its own legacy appeals and will no longer have cases returning to it from the Court of Appeal, it will be possible to put in place enhanced internal protocols to ensure that the time between hearing and delivery of judgment is kept to the minimum. The cases now being heard by the Supreme Court are, by constitutional definition, all cases of general public importance which have, inevitably, a significance beyond the individual case. In such circumstances it is particularly important that the implications of the judgments of the Court are carefully worked out. It follows in turn that at least some cases do require very detailed and complex consideration before judgment can be delivered.
However, the above analysis suggests that, at least in very many cases, and in particular where there are no significant delays in the filing of relevant documents, the Court may hope to be able to deal with the entire process from application for leave to appeal, to the delivery of judgment in nine to ten months. I frankly do not think that it will be possible to reduce that time much further except in those very rare cases where urgency requires that what might otherwise be seen as unrealistic demands are placed both on the parties and on the Court."
Brexit and the International Work of the Court:
This report also identifies the continuing significant international obligations of the Court - not least in the context of Brexit, where Ireland is the largest remaining Common Law country in Europe, with Malta and Cyprus having similar systems. International relations will, if anything, increase in importance for Ireland over the coming years. Being the Common Law voice in Europe and the challenges and opportunities of Brexit will involve ongoing commitment from the judges of the court. The Chief Justice remarked, “that it does have to be said that we are a small judiciary and do not have the numbers available to other comparable courts (even those of relatively small countries) so that the burden placed on our judges is correspondingly larger."
Judicial Council Welcomed but also putting demands on Judges:
In that same context I should also say that, while the establishment of the Judicial Council is very much to be welcomed, the proper operation of that council and its many committees will also place additional burdens on the judiciary. Where matters are to be decided which have implications for the judiciary as a whole, it is particularly important that judges of all jurisdictions are involved and that judges based outside Dublin play a full role. But we must be realistic about the demands that places on judges who have busy lists to conduct.
Outreach Work of the Supreme Court – Community, Professions and Schools & Colleges
The Supreme Court has also continued to expand our national outreach programmes. During 2019 the Court sat in Galway and this week, sat in both Waterford and Kilkenny. Meetings and conversations were had with civic society and community groups , schools, colleges, and professional associations in both cities this week. Great turnouts were had for public lectures delivered by members of the court – and the judges were particularly taken by the level of interest in the work of the Supreme Court.
The Chief Justice has expressed his delight with the pilot Comhrá ( Irish for conversation) programme which enables secondary school students to ask questions by live video- ink to judges of the Supreme Court. That extended this week to Comhrá Live – where the court visited five schools in the South East and engaged with the students, answering questions of a wide and varied nature.
The full report can be accessed here