Notices

29/10/2014

Direction by the Chief Justice under Article 64.3.1° of the Constitution of Ireland specifying the class of appeals pending before the Supreme Court which will transfer to the Court of Appeal.

Direction by the Chief Justice under Article 64.3.1° of the Constitution 

Information Note

The Supreme Court

The Chief Justice, with the concurrence of the other Judges of the Supreme Court, the 28th October 2014, having been appointed as Establishment Day of the Court of Appeal, gave a Direction on the 29th October 2014 under the provisions of Article 64 3 1° of the Constitution, specifying the class of appeals  pending in the Supreme Court which will transfer to the Court of Appeal.

As a result of the direction, 327 appeals certified as ready for hearing ("certified appeals") will be retained by the Supreme Court, and 258 certified appeals will transfer to the Court of Appeal.

Court of Criminal Appeal

Appeals from the Court of Criminal Appeal to the Supreme Court remain with the Supreme Court.  Appeals pending in the Court of Criminal Appeal which have not been fully or partly heard as of the Establishment Day transfer to the Court of Appeal. There are 142 sentence appeals ready for hearing, 75 appeals from conviction ready for hearing, and 346 uncertified appeals. Appeals which have been fully or partly heard in the Court of Criminal Appeal and remain to be determined will be determined by the Court of Criminal Appeal, which will continue in existence until those appeals are disposed of. There are 26 such appeals.

New reformed court

Consequent to the amendment of the Constitution, a reformed appellate jurisdiction exercisable by the Supreme Court comes into operation on the Establishment Day.  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 in Article 34 5 3° and Article 34 5 4°, respectively, are met.

The Supreme Court’s new jurisdiction is complemented by new statutory powers to facilitate case management of appeals, and a new procedural regime comprised of revised rules of court and a practice direction issued by the Chief Justice in the interests of the administration of justice and the determination of proceedings in a manner which is just, expeditious and likely to minimise costs.