A judge has questioned the allocation of the majority of courts available to Dublin Circuit Court on a two-to-one basis in favour of civil litigation. Judge Cyril Kelly said both the president and the acting president of the Circuit Court had addressed the problem of court shortages for criminal work. "But it looks like we are back to the bad old days," he said.
Judge Kelly spoke out yesterday when he found there was only one court available in which to conduct criminal trials. Accused persons in four cases had indicated they wanted to go for trial at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
"There are five or six courts which have been designated to deal with civil actions. We have no courts for criminal trials and this is unfair to jurors, gardai, accused persons and witnesses who have come to court to do very important work," he said.
He said an accused person could now get a trial within 12 weeks of the case being returned from the District Court. However, a person could be deprived of liberty for that period. Any further unnecessary delays in justice were outside his control, he said.
Judge Kelly said two courts had normally been made available and a third had been added. He said at least two others were needed for "the huge volume" of criminal work.