Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald has outlined plans for a comprehensive Government review of the civil justice system in the wake of concerns over the cost of litigation and the transparency of court proceedings.
Mr Justice Peter Kelly, President of the High Court, will chair the review group which will be given a two year timeline for the completion of the report. Included in its remit the group will be reviewing the issue of public access to documents filed in courts. In Ireland the vast majority of court cases are paper based, consequently public access to such documents can often be limited. Furthermore this aspect of the civil justice system has been shown to have an adverse effect on the reporting of cases. To address this issue the review group will also explore electronic methods of communications which would aim at making court documents available or accessible on the internet. The extent of this availability in terms of e-litigation including pleadings, submissions and other court documents will also be considered during the review.
The groups remit will cover improving procedures and practices including law on discovery and explore removing obsolete, unnecessary or over-complex rules of procedure with the aim of ensuring timely hearings. identifying methods of lowering the cost of litigation, creating a more responsive and proportionate system, encouraging alternative methods of dispute resolution and ensuring better outcomes for court users. Significantly the group will examine ways of supporting vulnerable court users, including children, wards of court and litigants who are ineligible for civil legal aid.
Legal rights group FLAC welcomes the review of the civil justice system. In response to the announcement Eilis Barry, CEO of FLAC commented: “FLAC has campaigned since its establishment for equal access to justice for all. In the words of Chief Justice Denham, ‘rights are meaningless without access’. We are therefore delighted to see ‘improving access to justice’ as the first aim on the review group’s agenda. We look forward to sharing our expertise and practical experience in identifying barriers for people seeking access to justice in Ireland, particularly barriers facing low-income, marginalised, vulnerable and minority groups.”
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