High Court judgment delays increasing, with some outstanding for years

The majority of reserved judgements are issued within three months but data obtained by The Irish Times shows that some judges are taking more than a year to issue rulings, with decisions in five cases remaining outstanding after two years.

Ken Murphy, president of the Law Society, said: “I certainly do hear concerns and complaints from time to time about the delay from judges and the impact that has on clients and the justice system.”

He added one reason for the delay was the increased workload judges face.

“I’ve spoke to people who have been appointed to the High Court in recent years who have been taken aback by the grinding workload. There is certainly reason to review whether there is an insufficient number of judges.

“It does seem to be the case that the volume of work in the High Court continues to rise disproportionately to the number of judges there to serve it. That impacts on access to justice and the vindication of the rights of citizens.”

The issue was highlighted in 2011, when justice minister at the time, Alan Shatter, said it was of “significant concern”.

Figures from then show that the court took longer than three months in 24 cases, or 33 per cent. But a mere three of the 74 outstanding judgements were delayed for more than a year.

Mr Shatter said measures to tackle the delayes were being introduced, among them additional administrative support for judges and a special commercial division in the High Court.

However, the situation has declined further in the past six years.

The latest register of reserved judgements shows that 39 per cent of completed cases, 61 out of 175, have judgments delayed by more than three months, while 19, or 12 per cent, have been outstanding for more than 12 months.

Fianna Fáil justice spokesman Jim O’Callaghan said the delays were “unacceptable”

He added: “In some cases the fault rests with individual judges. In most cases, however, it is caused as a result of the excessive workload placed on High Court judges.

“The workload of the High Court has grown significantly in recent years, yet we still do not have enough judges per capita to deal with this increased workload.”