Government has 'slight window' to fix district court disarray

Fianna Fáil TD James Lawless. File Picture: Eamon Farrell/ RollingNews.ie

The Government has a “slight window” of opportunity to address a major problem facing the district courts following a High Court ruling on Tuesday, the chair of the Oireachtas Justice Committee has said.

James Lawless, who is a barrister as well as a TD, made the comment after Ms Justice Marguerite Bolger ruled that the current ‘court presenter’ system in district courts – whereby a garda sergeant prosecutes cases on behalf of individual gardaí – is contrary to the law.