Judges urged to set trial deadlines

Judges should see themselves as "trial managers, setting timetables and deadlines to speed up trials", the president of the Law Society of Ireland has said.

Mr Patrick O'Connor was speaking on Saturday at the annual conference of the Law Society of Ireland.

Though noting that the judicial system and courts had suffered body blows over past weeks, Mr O'Connor said the role of judges generally was far more important than the specific cases of the former judges, Mr Hugh O'Flaherty and Mr Cyril Kelly.

His speech focused on the society's role in the development of what he called a "consumer-friendly, efficient, speedy and cost-effective justice system".

"In my view," he said, "anything that helps to make the law more understood by, and accessible to, the layman can only be a good thing. We must always remember that justice must not only be done, but be seen to be done."

He said cases could too often drag on for years, bringing the system as well as lawyers into disrepute. Here, he said, judges should set deadlines to trials. He also said they could encourage parties in litigation to try mediation.

Simpler cases could be put on a "fast-track" mechanism by judges, he said. This would take them out of queues with cases which would undoubtedly take some time.

Turning to the specific judicial duties of judges, Mr O'Connor said they should be subject to clear timetables for delivering their judgments. He suggested that early decisions should be given with a brief outline of the reasoning, to be followed by a more detailed judgment within a defined period. Essential to greater efficiency would be the availability of research assistants for judges, he continued.

He paid tribute to the working group, led by Mrs Justice Susan Denham, which led to the creation of a new court service to manage the courts. He had no doubt, he said, that its new chief executive-designate, Mr P.J. Fitzpatrick, would "serve this country well".

Also addressing the conference were the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Mr O'Donoghue, and the psychologist and broadcaster, Maureen Gaffney.