Court of Appeal - Covid-19 Arrangements

Please click the link for a document outling Guidance for Practitioners with regard to Virtual Courtrooms.

CIVIL APPEALS
(updated 19th January 2022)

The Court of Appeal Office in Áras Ui Dhalaigh is conducting business by appointment only

An appointment may be arranged via email to courtofappealcivil@courts.ie. Documents will also be accepted by post or via DX (No. 262001).

APPEALS FOR HEARING IN HILARY TERM 2021

As and from Monday the 24^th of January 2022 the Court of Appeal will resume hearing all Appeals by way of a physical hearing unless otherwise directed by the Court. Any queries in respect of this should in the first instance be made to the Office of the Registrar of the Court of Appeal by emailing courtofapppealcivil@courts.ie

All parties attending Court are expected to adhere to the Covid-19 guidelines and should continue to use face masks, exercise hand sanitation regularly and maintain physical distancing insofar as is practical and be cognisant of limited Courtroom capacities.

LODGING OF BOOKS OF APPEAL

Parties are required to lodge complete books of appeal (in hard and soft copy) not later than 4 weeks prior to the date of the appeal in accordance with Practice Direction CA06, or such other date as shall be fixed by the Court. This must include the transcript of the DAR or approved note of the judgment of the High Court where appropriate and a joint book of authorities. A party who has been authorised to file the books of appeal may file the books in accordance with this direction notwithstanding the failure of another party to the appeal to furnish its written submissions to such party for inclusion in the books of appeal.

In the event that the books are not lodged within the time fixed, the appeal shall be relisted in the next directions list in the Court of Appeal for mention. If the books are not lodged by the latter date, the Court may make an order extending the time for the late filing of the books of appeal for such short period as it deems appropriate subject to an order that the appeal shall stand struck out for failure to comply with the directions of the court. In the event of a failure to comply with such order the appeal shall be struck out.  Where an appeal is listed in the directions list by reason of the foregoing, the party in default may be liable for the costs arising from attendance at the directions list.

Parties should lodge the books of appeal (including the books of authorities) in hardcopy (x 3) and also in soft copy via the ShareFile platform. 

DIRECTIONS LIST AND MOTION LISTS

With effect from Friday the 28^th of January 2022 the weekly directions and motions lists before Ms. Justice Costello will be conducted by way of hybrid hearing in Court of Appeal Court 1, Old Public Records Building, The Four Courts. This means that the Judge and the Registrar will be sitting in the Courtroom physically and that Parties can either attend physically or attend remotely by means of the VMR platform  

In accordance with provisions of Order 86A Rule 16(1) the directions book is to be lodged in the office by close of business on the preceding Friday. In accordance with the provisions of Order 86 Rule 12(5) (dealing with interlocutory applications) the motion book is to be lodged in the office by close of business on the preceding Tuesday.

FRIDAY CALLOVER OF APPEALS LISTED FOR HEARING

The weekly advance Callover of appeals listed for hearing will resume on Friday the 28^th January 2022 via hybrid (Physical and Remote) hearing before Ms. Justice Costello.  The Callover lists for each respective Friday list are published in advance in the Legal Diary.  The Legal Diary list is updated on a daily basis. It is the responsibility of the parties in listed appeals to check the Legal Diary for the date of the relevant Callover (usually scheduled for six weeks in advance of the appeal hearing date).

Parties will be aware that the purpose of the Callover is to confirm that the submissions and books of appeals (including books of authorities) have been lodged and that there has been compliance with any other directions previously given by the Court. It is vital therefore that there be an attendance at the Callover by all parties to an appeal and

VIRTUAL MEETING ROOM (VMR) DETAILS FOR FRIDAY LISTS - IMPORTANT

Parties are asked to note that the Virtual Meeting Room (VMR) details for the Callover / Directions / Motion list on each Friday will be furnished to them directly by e-mail of the Court of Appeal Office.  Parties are advised, in this regard, to ensure that e-mail contact details furnished to that Office remain valid / are fully up-to-date. As and from the 28^th January 2022, any party will be able to attend the Court physically if they wish to while adhering to covid-19 guidelines

DELIVERY OF ELECTRONIC JUDGMENTS

Written judgments of courts may be delivered by means of a copy of the judgment being sent electronically to the parties and a copy, subject to such redactions as would ordinarily apply, being posted as soon as possible on the Courts Service website. The date and time of delivery to the parties will be notified in the Legal Diary.

The parties may be invited to communicate electronically with the Court on issues arising (if any) out of the judgment such as the precise form of order which requires to be made or questions concerning costs or they may be requested to attend physically to address the Court on these issues. If there are such issues and the parties do not agree in this regard concise written submissions should be filed electronically with the Office of the Court, courtofappealciviljudgment@courts.ie, within 14 days of delivery subject to any other direction given in the judgment.

CIVIL APPEALS FOR HEARING IN THE CRIMINAL COURTS OF JUSTICE

Civil appeals with a custody element i.e. Article 40 habeas corpus, extradition, bail and judicial review arising out of criminal proceedings are now dealt with by the criminal office which is situated on the 4^th Floor of the Criminal Courts of Justice Building, Parkgate Street, Dublin 8. The civil office will continue to issue the Notice of Appeal and identify whether the appeal comes within the category of appeal to be heard in the Criminal Courts of Justice and allocate the next available case-management list in the Criminal Courts of Justice for a directions hearing.  The file will then be transferred to the criminal office and all subsequent documents in the appeal process are to be lodged in the criminal office which will have responsibility for the management and listing of the appeal.  Any enquiries in relation to such appeals should be made to the criminal office by email to courtofappealcriminal@courts.ie or by telephone on (01) 7988004. 

CRIMINAL APPEALS AND CIVIL APPEALS FOR HEARING IN THE CRIMINAL COURTS OF JUSTICE
(updated 11th May 2020)

As practitioners will be aware the Court has embarked on a pilot exercise for the hearing of appeals remotely. Any updates in relation to the listing of appeals will be published in the Legal Diary and practitioners are advised to monitor the Diary for any such updates. Any enquiry in relation to the listing of a criminal appeal may be made to the Registrar by email to courtofappealcriminal@courts.ie. Any enquiry in relation to the listing of a civil appeal in the Criminal Courts of Justice may be made to the Registrar by email to courtofappealcivil@courts.ie.

List to Fix Dates and Management List

Due to COVID-19 the List to Fix Dates scheduled for the 23rd March was adjourned. However the cases in that List together with appeals or undue leniency applications where the submissions of the moving party have since been lodged will be included in a List to Fix Dates to be taken remotely by the President on Monday the 18th May 2020 at 2.30 pm. The List is now published in the Legal Diary and the parties in the cases concerned will be furnished in due course with the necessary details to access the Virtual Meeting Room. For administrative reasons the List will close at 1pm on the preceding Thursday the 14th May 2020 and where submissions are received after that day/time every effort will be made to include the cases concerned in a late additions section. Submissions will be accepted in Word version by email to courtofappealcriminal@courts.ie and there is no requirement for hard copies to be lodged in the court office.

The weekly management lists are suspended until further notice. Any application for case-management (including an application for a priority hearing) should be made in the first instance to the Registrar by email to courtofappealcriminal@courts.ie or, if the appeal is a civil appeal for case-management and hearing in the Criminal Courts of Justice, by email to courtofappealcivil@courts.ie. It may be that such applications will be suitable to be dealt with by the President on the papers but if not capable of being dealt with in that way the President will give directions as to the remote hearing of any such applications.

Hearing of Appeals

At the List to Fix Dates on the 18th May 2020 it is the intention of the President to allocate remote hearing dates to appeals which the parties agree are suitable for a remote hearing. Where there is such agreement arrangements will be made in criminal appeals for the Director of Public Prosecutions to make the necessary application to the Court pursuant to Section 33 of the Prisons Act 2007 for the attendance of the appellant at such remote hearing via videolink.

Sentence appeals and undue leniency applications

See Practice Direction (CA02) for requirements as to materials (reports, testimonials etc) for the use of the court in sentence appeals and undue leniency applications. Practitioners are urged to ensure that any such materials are furnished to the court office in good time in advance of the remote hearing date to facilitate the transmission of the materials to the Court

Chief Prosecution Solicitor - service of documents and notification of any intended application

Practitioners are reminded of the requirement to serve on the Chief Prosecution Solicitor for the Director of Public Prosecutions written submissions lodged in the court office. Except for the documents referred to in Order 86C Rule 7 (1) (a notice of appeal or a notice of application pursuant to section 2 of the Criminal Procedure Act 1993) and in Order 86C Rule 15(1) (a notice of abandonment) notice of which the Registrar is required to give to various parties including the Chief Prosecution Solicitor all other documents lodged in the court office must be served on the Chief Prosecution Solicitor. Notice of any intended application to the Court must be given to the Chief Prosecution Solicitor as well as to the court office.

Papers in Civil Appeals for case-management and hearing in the Criminal Courts of Justice

During the period of the current pandemic the following arrangements will apply:

Practitioners in civil appeals for case-management in the Criminal Courts of Justice who are required to lodge booklets pursuant to the provisions of Order 86 Rule 12 (5) (motions) and Order 86A Rule 16 (1) (directions hearings) may send such booklets in pdf to the civil office by email to courtofappealcivil@courts.ie.

Unless the Court otherwise directs books of appeal for the hearing of civil appeals in the Criminal Courts of Justice should, pursuant to the provisions of the Efiling Notice issued by the President on the 20th April 2020 (the text of which is published on the homepage of this website) be sent via email to courtofappealcivil@courts.ie. The books should comply with the provisions of Practice Direction CA06 and should also be lodged in hard copy in the civil office in Áras Uí Dhalaigh, Inns Quay Dublin 7 by appointment to be arranged by email to courtofappealcivil@courts.ie.

Submissions in such appeals will be accepted in Word version by email to courtofappealcivilsubs@courts.ie and there is no requirement for hard copies to be lodged in the civil office. Practitioners should ensure that the submissions comply with the requirements of the Efiling Notice and Practice Direction CA06.