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Here are the newly appointed Court of Appeal judges who start work next week

Chief Justice, Justice Susan Denham said the court will help with delays in the system.

MORE THAN 258 appeals from the High Court will be transferred to the new Court of Appeal.

The Court of Appeal Act which was signed into law by President Higgins in July after the Irish public approved its established through a referendum.

At its meeting today, the Government nominated a judge of the High Court as President of the Court of Appeal, as well as, seven judges of the High Court and one judge of the Circuit Court as ordinary judges of the Court of Appeal as follows:

  • The Hon. Mr. Justice Sean Ryan, President
  • The Hon. Mr. Justice Peter Kelly
  • The Hon. Ms. Justice Mary Finlay Geoghegan
  • The Hon. Mr. Justice Michael Peart
  • The Hon. Mr. Justice George Birmingham
  • The Hon. Ms. Justice Mary Irvine
  • The Hon. Mr Justice Garrett Sheehan
  • The Hon. Mr. Justice Gerard Hogan
  • His Hon. Judge Alan Mahon

A ninth ordinary judge vacancy still needs to be filled.

Speaking this afternoon, the Chief Justice, Justice Susan Denham said the court is an important development “as it establishes a new jurisdictional tier between the High Court and the Supreme Court, so that delays in the appellate system may be addressed”.

A general right of appeal from the High Court to the Supreme Court will now be replaced by a general right of appeal to the Court of Appeal. An appeal to the Supreme Court will lie from decisions of the Court of Appeal and the High Court where the Supreme Court is satisfied that the relevant jurisdictional thresholds set out.

It is expected the new court will sit for the first time next week.

Read: New appointments chosen to fill vacancies in High Court>

Read: Four judges chosen to fill vacancies in High Court>

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32 Comments
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    Mute Aireach
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    Oct 29th 2014, 8:33 PM

    Less holidays and more regular working hours would also help. Starting before 10:30am for example…

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    Mute Kitty Prendergast
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    Oct 29th 2014, 9:38 PM

    When precisely do you expect them to read the case law, the pleadings and the submissions? During the hearings?

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    Mute John Barry
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    Oct 29th 2014, 10:04 PM

    Perhaps they could read them once they finish at 4pm, or perhaps review them at the weekend, or during the various long term holidays( the month of August for example). At the end of the day our judiciary are one of the highest paid in Europe and last but not least, they actually applied for these positions with the full knowledge of the work load required so if they have to work long days then so be it.

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    Mute Kitty Prendergast
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    Oct 30th 2014, 8:25 AM

    Actually, they do.

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    Mute Dean Anderson
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    Oct 29th 2014, 8:54 PM

    Removing the word ‘suspended’ from the judges vocabulary would be a good step. Then explain to them what a prison is for and encourage them to send criminals there

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    Mute Jason Bourne
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    Oct 30th 2014, 12:43 AM

    Thats a big adjustment for them. How do you easy lifers into a new mindset? Tough one.

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    Mute Paul Madigan
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    Oct 29th 2014, 8:47 PM

    Was in court in Newcastle in limerick last only on a Thursday 10.30 to 12.30 and 1.30 to 4.00 bit of a joke

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    Mute Silent Majority
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    Oct 29th 2014, 8:53 PM

    Hope you got away with it mate.

    52
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    Mute Paul Madigan
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    Oct 29th 2014, 8:54 PM

    Was a witness in dangerous driving case but he never showed up

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    Mute Catherine Mayock
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    Oct 29th 2014, 9:00 PM

    Was he guilty.?

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    Mute Paul Madigan
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    Oct 29th 2014, 9:02 PM

    Yea driving 120 mph in a 50

    41
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    Mute Play Against Par
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    Oct 29th 2014, 9:08 PM

    There you go. We’ve just sorted it here. Lock him up!

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    Mute Play Against Par
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    Oct 29th 2014, 8:35 PM

    And what are they doing this week!?

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    Mute Darren Norris
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    Oct 30th 2014, 8:01 AM

    Nothing

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    Mute Kerry Blake
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    Oct 29th 2014, 8:37 PM

    Would it not be a good idea to add more judges as well?

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    Mute Neal Ireland Hello
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    Oct 29th 2014, 10:35 PM

    They just did.

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    Mute Kerry Blake
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    Oct 29th 2014, 11:19 PM

    No Neal they just promoted some judges from 1 set of courts to another leaving the original court down 9 judges. What kind of effect will that have on the original court and its cases?

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    Mute Sammy Sausages
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    Oct 29th 2014, 11:45 PM

    Kerry, tomorrow 11am the new high court judges are being appointed. Patience.

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    Mute Silent Majority
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    Oct 29th 2014, 8:52 PM

    The Special Criminal Court should also be put to referendum. It would pass anyway, but new courts should not be able to be implemented without public approval.

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    Mute Silent Majority
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    Oct 29th 2014, 9:56 PM

    Surprised this is getting red thumbed. Put it this way, if you support the SCC, or even just accept it as a necessary evil, then referendum is the best way to go. Sinn Fein have never hidden their dislike of the SCC and because it was implemented legislatively, should SF ever rise to power they could disband the court legislatively too. And now that the precedent of implementing some forms of court legislatively has been set, maybe they could imitate their kangaroo sexual assault courts as state apparatus too. Courts should be kept as separate from the political system as humanly possible, and leaving important decisions on them to the people rather than the parliament is a good way to achieve that.

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    Mute Diarmuid
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    Oct 29th 2014, 9:37 PM

    The best paid judges in Europe…

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    Mute Silent Majority
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    Oct 29th 2014, 9:49 PM

    That’s changing pretty rapidly, and I’m not sure it’s a particularly good thing tbh. Heard recently that if you include pension they are down 30% during the recession, and some judges are even resigning the bench to return to practice. Judges, like guards, are worth paying as well, because if they can’t meet costs there are other avenues of revenue open to them, and desperate men will often do deplorable things.

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    Mute Paul Roche
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    Oct 29th 2014, 10:04 PM

    A new jurisdictional tier between the High Court and the Supreme Court only serves to delay the plaintiff on their way to Europe. For example, Louise O’Keefe – how much extra time would have been wasted by her if she had to deal with this extra layer of cost and delay?
    Why was the establishment of this court necessary?
    Has anyone else heard a solicitor say “we can sort that out on appeal” – before even going to trial?
    With poor judgements from the lower courts by a politically appointed and untrained and inexperienced judiciary, it will only be a short time before this court is back logged.
    To use a road network analogy, motorways only create more traffic.
    What’s wrong has not been fixed.

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    Mute Dermot Ryan
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    Oct 29th 2014, 11:53 PM

    well spotted – but sure more courts more legal more high money to invest in Irish Bonds – preferably when they have been turned to junk status !

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    Mute Mary McDonagh Faherty
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    Oct 30th 2014, 7:06 AM

    Are we getting info on how qualified these judges are? Or is it just shallow info again? C’mon journal.ie some info about these appointments

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    Mute Catherine Mayock
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    Oct 29th 2014, 11:00 PM

    Can anyone tell me why theres no commenting on maria cahill .

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    Mute Paul Roche
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    Oct 30th 2014, 12:46 AM

    Could it be that she has no recourse to a court in Northern Ireland?

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    Mute Jason Bourne
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    Oct 30th 2014, 12:50 AM

    Because there’s s massive smear campaign going on and the journal are apart of it. And I’m not a SF supporter. But all you have to do is look at the effort Enda is putting in and the media cover this is getting.

    The indo and TodayFM is running SF into the ground now for the last 2 weeks.

    The country turned a corner with the massive march in Dublin. So to stem the resistance they need to try and kill the only party that could take over the government.

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    Mute Doc Benway
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    Oct 30th 2014, 12:12 PM

    I’d agree that the former march was significant and the coming march more so. It’s when the penny drops and those that be realise SF are not pulling these peoples strings. Times have indeed changed, many can now see the emperor has no clothes.

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    Mute David
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    Oct 29th 2014, 10:21 PM

    Why do they all read “the hon” and one “his hon” ?

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    Mute Brian O' Reilly
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    Oct 30th 2014, 12:29 AM

    There are different titles for different levels of judge. A High Court Judge is addressed as The Hon. Mr/Ms Justice X. A Circuit Court Judge is addressed as His/Her Honour Judge X. Before his appointment to the Court of Appeal, Alan Mahon was a judge of the Circuit Court. All the others were High Court Judges.

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    Mute Paul Roche
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    Oct 30th 2014, 12:43 AM
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