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Ireland still lags on judicial spending

Ireland’s level of spending on its judicial system, as measured by percentage of economic output (GDP), was the lowest in Europe in 2022, according to a new report.

The report was published by the European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ), part of the Council of Europe. It covers 46 countries and is published every two years.

It said that Ireland spent 0.07% of GDP on its judicial system in 2022 – well below the 0.31% median.

European states spent an average of €85.40 a year per inhabitant on their legal systems in 2022 – up more than €7 since 2020. Ireland’s figure of €65, however, was again below the median.

Legal aid

While CEPEJ found that the budgets of Ireland’s courts and prosecution services were below the respective medians across the Council of Europe (CoE), the legal-aid budget per inhabitant was among the highest in Europe – standing at €23.60 and accounting for 35.9% of the judicial system’s budget.

The number of professional judges per 100,000 inhabitants in Ireland in 2022 was 3.3, compared with a median of 17.6 across the 46 countries. Only England and Wales recorded a lower figure.

In 2023, the Government approved the appointment of 24 new judges, with further additions to follow.

Ireland’s figure for public prosecutors was 2.7 per 100,000 inhabitants – the lowest in the survey and well below the 11.2 median.

Digitalisation ‘at the beginning’

The figure of 275.3 for lawyers, however, was well above the 155.5 median recorded among the 46 countries. 

The report includes an ‘ICT deployment index' to measure justice systems’ use of technology. Ireland scored only 1.1, compared with 4.16 across all participating countries.

CEPEJ described Ireland as being “at the beginning” of the digitisation of justice, but noted that its investment had recently increased significantly, especially since 2020.

The report said that the overall allocation to justice across Europe remained low compared with other areas of the public sector, representing around 0.31% of economic output.

The figures show that there were significant increases in spending in some justice areas compared with 2020, when pandemic restrictions led to declines. Spending on training jumped by 54%.