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High Court summer pilot's 'teething problems'

The President of the High Court has acknowledged that there were “teething problems” with last year’s pilot project aimed at providing more flexibility during the courts’ long vacation, which runs through August and September. 

Based on feedback, however, Mr Justice David Barniville said that he hoped that these problems had been addressed before this year’s pilot. 

The pilot project followed a report from the Judicial Planning Working Group (JPWG) in 2023 that recommended that consideration should be given to staggering the long vacation. 

Increased workload 

The 2025 pilot will cover the same three case lists as in 2024: 

• Family,
• Non-jury, judicial review, and asylum and immigration, and
• Planning and environment. 

The High Court President said that the decision to focus on the same areas was taken due to the increasing workload of the lists covered, the strategic importance of those lists, and the need to ensure sufficient judicial cover in those lists. 

“Running the pilot for a second year in the same lists will also enable a better assessment to be carried out of the impact of the pilot,” he added. 

Five judges to participate 

Five High Court judges will participate in the 2025 pilot – one in the family list, one in planning and environment, and three in the list covering non-jury, judicial review, and asylum and immigration. 

The 2025 project will start on 14 July, when the five judges will take their summer break until 14 September. They will sit as normal from Monday 15 September. 

All other High Court judges will continue to operate subject to existing long-vacation arrangements in August and September.