Babcock and Brown to build €100m supercourt

An Australian company is set to build the new €100m supercourt in Dublin, it emerged today.

Babcock and Brown, which is engaged in a takeover attempt on eircom, will be responsible for the construction of the enormous 22-court complex.

It will be the largest courts development in the history of the state and will replace the Central Criminal Court, the Special Criminal Court, the Dublin Circuit Court and much of the Dublin District Court.

The Courts Service said Babcock and Brown had been selected as the preferred tenderer to build the new courts complex.

“The service will now enter into detailed negotiations with the selected tenderer with a view to concluding contract negotiations for delivery of this landmark project,” said a spokesman.

The new courts complex will be located on a site at the junction of Parkgate Street and Infirmary Road, adjacent to the entrance to the Phoenix Park in Dublin. It is expected to be ready for use by 2009 and is being funded through a public private partnership.

Babcock and Brown will design, build and maintain the complex for 25 years, at a total cost to the state of around €100m.

The Australian investment company, which is attempting to buy eircom for €2.36bn, is involved in financing infrastructure projects around the world. It made the final shortlist of three consortia, before being selected as the preferred tenderer. It is expected to contract out much of the construction work to Irish companies.

The Courts Service said the transfer of criminal trials from the Four Courts and other nearby buildings to the new complex would improve efficiency and security.

“There is an urgent need to overcome the security and other implications of continuing with the present arrangements whereby it is necessary to transport prisoners in handcuffs through public areas from one end of the (Four Courts) campus to the other,” said the spokesman.

He said the new courts complex would provide much better facilities for victims, prisoners, witnesses, jurors and the public.

“There is little or no scope for improving these facilities within the fabric of the existing campus of buildings where criminal trials are held.”

The new courts complex will include private victim support rooms on each floor, secure areas for witnesses, secure judges’ chambers, cell accommodation for up to 100 prisoners and video-conferencing facilities.

There will also be a large assembly space to cater for up to 400 people called for jury service. Currently, potential jurors must crowd into the limited confines of Central Criminal Court number two while they wait to see if they will be selected to serve in murder or rape trials.

The historic Four Courts complex, which was designed by the architect James Gandon and rebuilt after it was partly destroyed in the civil war, will continue to be used in the future for commercial court cases.