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High Court - Long Vacation Pilot Project – Non-Jury Judicial Review Updated Notice
Wednesday 09th July 2025
Terms & Sittings
9 Days ago

Further to the Notice of the President of the High Court, published on 25 March 2025, and details of available dates published on Friday 16 May 2025 - Details in respect of the Pilot Project for Long Vacation sittings of Judges assigned to the Non-Jury/Judicial Review and Asylum Division of the High Court are set out below.

  1. The Pilot Project will commence on Monday, 14 July, 2025 and will cover the period from then until 2 October, 2025. 
     
  2. A High Court Duty Judge will be available every day throughout the Long Vacation to hear urgent applications. Applications will not be listed before the vacation Judge without certification from the High Court Duty Registrar that the matter is urgent. To list an urgent matter, please contact the Four Courts at 01-8886000 and make arrangements with the High Court Duty Registrar. Non-jury Judicial Review and Asylum Judges with Pilot Project cases at hearing or running the Asylum Lists set out hereafter will not hear urgent matters which should be properly before the High Court Duty Judge.
     
  3. Separately, and as part of the Pilot Project, High Court judges will be sitting in the Judicial Review, Non-jury and Asylum lists.  The “Long Vacation” for those judges will be from Friday 14 July and August 2024 until Friday 12 September 2025.  They will take their summer break in this period as well as carrying out other judicial duties, including their vacation sitting obligations, judgment preparation and writing, attending conferences and undertaking judicial training.  They will then sit as normal from Monday 6 October 2025.
     
  4. A further 6 judges will hear urgent Asylum lists, 2 of these judges are sitting as part of the Pilot project and 4 in addition to their vacation duty.
     
  5. Parties must file papers for hearings in the List Room on 29 July, in advance of the call-over on 31 July. Papers for Non-jury and Judicial Review cases should also be sent in soft copy to nonjuryjudicialreview@courts.ie

And in respect of Asylum cases in the emergency lists, papers must be filed one week in advance and sent in soft copy to asylumlist@courts.ie

 

Non-Jury/Judicial Review

  • Two High Court judges will sit in September and early October 2025. 
     
  • Cases or motions in the Non-Jury/Judicial Review/Asylum and Immigration Lists were listed for hearing on the relevant dates in order of priority in the list by the Judge in Charge of the lists (Ms. Justice Gearty).  The cases which were ready for hearing, in which parties were available, were assigned on a “first come, first served” basis.
     
  • As it is essential in these lists that the judges have the papers prior to the hearing, parties must have papers and legal submissions for assigned cases lodged in the List Room by Tuesday 29 July, for all dates of the pilot project. For Asylum cases, papers can be lodged one week in advance of the List date in each case.
     
  • There will be a “Pilot Project Call-over” of all assigned pilot project hearing dates by the Judge in Charge of the lists (Ms. Justice Gearty) on Thursday, 31 July, immediately after the normal call-over at 10am.  There will be no weekly call-over in September 2024.  If there are any applications in relation to these lists during September, parties should contact: nonjuryjudicialreview@courts.ie for Non-jury/Judicial Review cases and asylumlist@courts.ie for Asylum matters.

 

Non-Jury and Judicial Review Hearing Dates

  1. 15 September – Mr. Justice Barry O’Donnell
     
  2. 16 September – Ms. Justice Nessa Cahill
     
  3. 17 September – Ms. Justice Nessa Cahill
     
  4. 18 September – Mr. Justice Barry O’Donnell
     
  5. 23 September - Mr. Justice Barry O’Donnell
     
  6. 25 September - Mr. Justice Barry O’Donnell
     
  7. 30 September - Mr. Justice Nessa Cahill
     
  8. 2 October - Ms. Justice Nessa Cahill

 

Asylum List - Lists for Pre-Leave Applications in September / October

The cases in these lists have been assigned in the order in which they were filed in the Central Office.  There will be an asylum registrar’s list on 24 September.  

Remote attendance at these sittings will be facilitated. Each list will have 20 ex parte applications listed.  It is hoped that an increase in judicial and registrar capacity later this year will reduce the need for such emergency measures in future.

  1. Mr. Justice Barr – List on the 2 September
     
  2. Ms. Justice O’Regan – List on the 4 September
     
  3. Ms. Justice Gearty – Lists on 15 and 17 September
     
  4. Ms. Justice Phelan – Lists on 16 and 18 September
     
  5. Mr. Justice Bradley – Lists on 1 and 3 October
     
  6. Ms. Justice Phelan  – Lists on 1 and 3 October

 

If there are any applications in relation to these lists during September or in the first week of October, parties should contact the Asylum and Immigration Registrar.

 

7 July 2025