Shortage of court registrars will delay cases, top judge warns

Serious delays in dealing with court cases will result from a continuing shortage of registrars, High Court president Mr Justice Nicholas Kearns has said.

Registrars’ duties include assisting the judge, calling cases, swearing in witnesses, drafting orders and generally ensuring the smooth running of the court.

Mr Justice Kearns said there had in recent weeks been a problem because there were not enough registrars for available judges.

There were two judges, Mr Justice John Hedigan and Ms Justice Iseult O’Malley, available to take cases yesterday (wed) but no registrars for them, he said.

He was speaking to lawyers who were seeking to have cases listed for hearing on the previous day heard yesterday.

There were judges available but, without registrars, the cases could not be called, he said.

‘Serious delays’

“Unfortunately, unless this matter is resolved and additional staff provided, the problem is going to result in serious delays and logjams in disposing of the court lists,” he said.

This was not a problem of the courts’ making or of the Courts Service’s making, he said.

Mr Justice Kearns said he had conveyed his views to the Courts Service. It was of very serious concern to High Court judges that this problem had been developing the way it had been in recent weeks, he added.

Approval for extra staff must come from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.

Sources say the Courts Service has applied for approval for three registrars as a bare minimum to meet its immediate obligations. Two of those would be replacements for registrars who retired years ago.

So far, there has been no response from the Government to the request.