Talks led to court’s creation

The Courts Service has confirmed that it had been in discussions with the Department of Justice regarding the creation of a second Special Criminal Court for a number of months.

A spokesman for the service said that during these consultations it became clear that the growth in waiting times for cases had “stretched out to 20 months”.

He said the decision by Government to give the green light to a second non-jury court would lessen waiting times and hearings for “some very serious crimes”.