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High Court ‘long vacation’ pilot project

The President of the High Court has announced plans for a pilot project aimed at providing more flexibility during the courts’ long vacation, which runs through August and September.

This follows a report from the Judicial Planning Working Group (JPWG) earlier this year that recommended that consideration should be given to staggering the long vacation.

Mr Justice David Barniville (pictured) said that the pilot project would take place in the High Court next summer.

July-August break

Under the plans, for judges taking part in the scheme, their normal court-sitting legal year would end on Friday 28 June and begin again on Monday 2 September.

Mr Justice Barniville said that a number of judges had indicated a willingness to take part, adding that the pilot was likely to involve “in and around five High Court judges”.

“Subject to the usual requirement on High Court judges to undertake a number of vacation sittings in July and August, they would, therefore, be free to take their summer break during the July-August 2024 period, as well as using that period for other tasks, such as working on judgments, attending conferences, and undertaking judicial training courses,” he stated.

Consultation

The High Court President stressed that most High Court judges would continue to operate under the existing long-vacation arrangements in 2024.

“This means that there will still be a need for High Court vacation sittings in August and September 2024 to deal with urgent cases that arise during the long vacation, as well as other specially assigned work,” he said.

Mr Justice Barniville added that he would consult the President of the Law Society and the Chair of the Bar Council, among others, early next term on the pilot.

“I should stress, however, that we see the pilot as something the High Court must proceed with in 2024 in light of the JPWG report and recommendations,” he concluded.

The Government has indicated that decisions on additional judicial appointments will be influenced by the implementation of the JPWG recommendations.