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.

She said the law stipulated that the garda who initiated the prosecution must also conduct the prosecution and not a nominated sergeant who would prosecute the cases of all members.

But her final order on the matter won’t be made until the specific case is before her again on June 16.

Mr Lawless, the Fianna Fáil TD for Kildare North, said he was aware that court houses around the country “were in turmoil” after the ruling. 

He said a number of gardaí and people in the courts system have been in direct contact with him about it.

“They don’t know what to do. Do they pull all the gardaí off the street and into the courtroom so they can present the cases one by one?” 

He said that not only is that quite cumbersome but also time consuming as cases can be adjourned.

“There are two ways to go,” he said. “In the circuit court you have prosecutorial counsel, state barristers or solicitors. They could run all cases in the district court…or you look at changing the law.” 

Mr Lawless said that emergency legislation, which would provide a legal basis for a court presenter, could be done relatively quickly.

He said the court presenter system has worked “reasonably well” over the decades.

“You could apply the circuit model to the district court in the space of maybe a month, maybe six weeks," the deputy said. "It wouldn’t be terribly complicated.” 

But, whichever option the Government chooses, it has to be done "very quickly” - at least by June 16.

“The final order won’t be made for a few weeks," he said, "so there is a slight window." 

However, he added that there is “potentially an issue that anybody who was prosecuted or even that pleaded guilty” could revisit the case and challenge it.

“That may be a concern for the DPP,” he said.

The Department of Justice has said it is examining the judgement and its implications. In a statement it said officials are consulting with both the Office of the Attorney General and An Garda Síochána.