Minister McEntee secures government approval for 20 additional Judges
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From: Department of Justice
- Published on: 23 October 2024
- Last updated on: 12 April 2025
The Minister for Justice Helen McEntee has today (Tuesday) received Cabinet approval for 20 additional judges to be appointed on a phased basis, to support timely access to justice across the courts.
Minister McEntee established the Judicial Planning Working Group in 2021 and the final report of the Group was published in February 2023. The report recommended the appointment of 44 additional judges in two phases.
A first phase of 24 additional judges was approved by Government and appointed throughout 2023. This built on other judicial appointments in the lifetime of this government, bringing the total number of additional appointments to 31. Following the completion of an assessment on the impact of the judges appointed in Phase 1 and progress made in other areas of the report’s implementation, Cabinet has approved the appointment of a second phase of 20 additional judges.
Following the Cabinet meeting, Minister McEntee said:
“The appointment of additional judges is a key part of my plan to speed up our courts and deliver faster access to justice. An assessment has clearly shown the positive impact of the additional 30 judges appointed in the lifetime of this government across all court jurisdictions. They have resulted in a significant increase in the number of court sittings, and the amount of cases resolved, as well as improved waiting times.
“This decision will ensure that our Courts are fully resourced to administer justice effectively and efficiently.
“The JPWG report highlighted that existing judicial numbers could not meet this objective, given our population growth, expanding and new areas of law and increasing case complexity.
“The appointment of extra judges will allow for trials to be scheduled more quickly. Other measures, such as the rollout of body-worn cameras and the introduction of facial recognition technology, will ensure digital evidence in criminal trials can be gathered much faster. It is expected that the rollout of body-worn cameras could lead to an increase in the number of early guilty pleas as criminals are confronted with video footage of incidents.”
The impact assessment also highlighted the need for Phase 2 of additional judicial resources to build on the progress already made. Areas identified for continued focus to enhance the timely administration of justice across the courts include:
- further reducing waiting times and increasing clearance rates
- enabling the courts to support new and growing areas of business
- facilitating additional training days for judges to ensure that the Judiciary are attuned to the needs of victims and equipped to deal with increasing case complexity
Following today’s Cabinet approval, Minister McEntee, along with the Attorney General, will work to introduce legislation to increase the number of judges, which is currently capped for each court.
Minister McEntee added:
“The need for additional judges is further highlighted by the progression of recent legislation requiring courts and judicial resourcing, such as the Family Courts Bill 2022, the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) (Amendment) Act 2022 and the Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Act, 2024.
“Appointing 20 additional judges, in tandem with my department’s continuing support of the Courts Service Modernisation programme, will be prioritised to ensure our justice system can meet the needs of all those navigating their way through it.”
The introduction of efficiencies has been an important part of the government’s plan to modernise the courts. Actions which have been delivered in the first phase of judicial expansion include:
- an initial trial project to stagger the court vacation was ran in the High Court this summer
- the Presidents of the Circuit and District Courts are working with the Courts Service to develop protocols for scheduling sittings on all five working days of the week (Monday - Friday)
- cases are being stacked in the same courtroom where feasible (that is, one judge conducts a hearing in the morning and another judge conducts a hearing in the afternoon in the same courtroom) and to increase the use of hybrid and remote hearings to maximise the use of courtroom space
- a report has been completed which has examined further reforms to empower the Court Presidents to ensure the maximum and efficient use of judicial resources in their court jurisdictions
- a stakeholder engagement group, which comprises representatives of the department, the Courts Service, judicial observers and affected stakeholders, continues to meet regularly to consider the impact of the implementation of the JPWG recommendations on stakeholders and to identify cross-organisational efficiencies, which may arise in this context
Notes
The Judicial Planning Working Group (JPWG) was established by the Department of Justice in 2021 to bring a more strategic focus to judicial recruitment.
The JPWG Report was submitted to the Minister for Justice on 6 January 2023 and was published on 24 February 2023.
The final Report recommended that 44 additional judges be appointed in two phases.
A first phase of 24 additional judges was appointed in 2023, comprising 8 additional District Court, 8 additional Circuit Court, 6 additional High Court and 2 additional Court of Appeal judges.
Allocation of judicial resources recommended as part of Phase 2 of the JPWG:
| Court | Current Judicial Numbers | Phase 2 | Future | Total Increase (Phase 1 + Phase 2) |
| District Court | 72 | 6 | 78 | 14 |
| Circuit Court | 46 | 6 | 52 | 14 |
| High Court | 51 | 6 | 57 | 12 |
| Court of Appeal | 19 | 2 | 21 | 4 |
| Supreme Court | 10 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| Total | 198 | 20 | 218 | 44 |
Some impacts of the additional judges appointed:
- dramatic reduction in backlog in criminal summonses awaiting scheduling in the District Court - the number of summonses awaiting scheduling is now down from 61,763 (Q1 2023) offences to 7,339 (Q2 2024)
- cancellation of District Court sittings largely eliminated by Q1 2024
- 17% increase in Circuit Court sittings around the country
- waiting times for Judicial Review in the High Court down from 13 weeks to 3 weeks and no waiting time for substantive hearings of asylum/immigration cases
- large impact on delay in trials for most serious offences (Central Criminal) from 87 weeks (Q1 2023) to 52 weeks (Q2 2024) for persons on bail and from 61 weeks (Q1 2023) to 50 weeks (Q2 2024) for those in custody. In Q1 2024, as many as 12 Central Criminal Court jury trials concurrently, an all-time high of cases run simultaneously