THE NUMBER of judicial vacancies has risen to 17 following the recent retirement of two Supreme Court and one High Court judge.
However, according to a spokesman for the Courts Service, this has not yet led to a disruption of court hearings.
However, it could not be guaranteed, the spokesman added, that there would not be disruption in the future to court hearings, due to a shortage of registrars, especially if the recruitment embargo continued. Registrars are essential to the running of court cases, as they record decisions and dates and draw up court orders.
Three vacancies on the High Court were advertised at the weekend by the Judicial Appointments Advisory Board. Two of the vacancies arose following the nomination of Mr Justice Mac Menamin and Mr Justice Clarke to the Supreme Court, and the third because of the recent retirement of Mr Justice John Quirke.
There are seven vacancies on both the Circuit and the District court benches.
The Supreme Court has nine members, including the Chief Justice and the President of the High Court, who is an ex officio member. The High Court normally has 37 (including its president), the Circuit Court has 38 and the District Court 63.
Vacancies on the bench are filled following public advertisement, with applicants forwarding their applications to the appointments board. Serving judges can be appointed to courts of higher jurisdiction.
The board vets the applicants according to criteria laid down in legislation and forwards the list of suitable candidates to the Government. It does not rank them in any order, and the Government is not obliged to appoint only from those listed, though it normally does.
A spokesman for the Department of Justice said the Government would be nominating judges for appointment to the vacancies on the District and Circuit courts as soon as it has received the relevant lists from the board, which were expected imminently.
It would also bring forward suitable nominations for appointment to the High Court as soon as that process had been completed by the board.
Meanwhile, The Irish Timeshas learned no date has been agreed by the Government for a referendum on the establishment of a court of appeal, which was promised in the programme for government. "A decision remains to be taken by Government as to when such a referendum will take place in the context of other future referenda," the spokesman for the Department of Justice said.