The Irish courts remained extremely busy in 2021, with over 531,000 new cases and over 405,000 cases resolved, according to the latest Courts Service annual report.
“Adaptation and innovation are two words which might best describe our efforts in 2021, as we dealt with the ongoing effects of a worldwide pandemic, and the impact it had on people’s right of access to justice, and on the administration of justice more generally,” Chief Justice Donal O’Donnell writes in the foreword to the report.
“Those efforts saw many matters dealt with in new and flexible ways including the extension of remote hearings (virtual courts), the use of non-Courts Service venues, such as Croke Park for trial hearings, and the large-scale take-up and efficient use of appearances by video-link between courts and prisons.”
The report shows that new personal injury actions at Circuit Court levels were down by 12 per cent, whereas possession cases were up by 75 per cent. There was also a 25 per cent reduction in new defamation cases at Circuit level.
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