Irish Examiner View: Legal system must work in 21st century

Courts tackle backlog of cases

The bill will introduce remote hearings in civil proceedings and allow for electronic filing of documents in civil matters.

The Cabinet has approved legislation that will help the courts clear a backlog of cases resulting from the Covid-19 lockdown. The Civil Law and Criminal Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2020, brought in by Justice Minister Helen McEntee, will also expand the use of video links in criminal and civil proceedings. It will introduce remote hearings in civil proceedings and allow for electronic filing of documents in civil matters.

These changes were long overdue but it is extraordinary that it has taken a pandemic to drag our outdated legal system into the 21st century. Indeed, Chief Justice Frank Clarke spoke on Tuesday of modernisation being forced on the courts by the pandemic. Launching the Courts Service 2019 annual report, he said the Courts Service has had to fit five years of modernisation into five months.