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High Court Pilot Project for Long Vacation 2025
Tuesday 25th March 2025
Presidents' Announcements
6 Days ago

PRESIDENT OF THE HIGH COURT

President’s Notice:
High Court Pilot Project for Long Vacation 2025

Background

  1. The High Court ran a Pilot Project for the Long Vacation in 2024 (the “2024 Pilot”) in which the Long Vacation for five High Court judges covering the following High Court lists (a) Family, (b) Non-Jury/Judicial Review/Asylum and Immigration, and (c) Planning and Environment was staggered and ran for July and August rather than the normal Long Vacation covering August and September. The judges who participated in the 2024 Pilot undertook normal vacation sittings during that period as well as other judicial work and judicial training. The 2024 Pilot was required in order to give effect to the recommendations of the Judicial Planning Working Group (“JPWG”) of February 2023.
     
  2. The full background to the 2024 Pilot was set out in High Court President’s Notices dated 21 December 2023, 5 March 2024 and 1 July 2024.

 

Feedback on 2024 Pilot

  1. Feedback was received from practitioners, practitioner groups, the professional representative bodies, registrars, court staff and judges in relation to the operation of the 2024 Pilot.  A number of valuable and important points were made in relation to that Pilot. In light of that feedback, it has been decided to run the Pilot Project for a second year in the Long Vacation in 2025 (the “2025 Pilot”). It is accepted that there were teething problems in the operation of the 2024 Pilot which did not work as smoothly as envisaged in some of the lists covered.  Based on the feedback received, it is hoped that those problems have been addressed for the 2025 Pilot.
     
  2. It has been decided to run the 2025 Pilot in the same High Court lists as were covered by the 2024 Pilot. This is due to the increasing workload of the lists covered, the strategic importance of those lists and the need to ensure sufficient judicial cover during the Long Vacation in those lists. Running the Pilot for a second year in the same lists will also enable a better assessment to be carried out of the impact of the Pilot.

 

Details of 2025 Pilot

  1. The High Court lists covered by the 2025 Pilot are (a) Family, (b) Non-Jury/Judicial Review/Asylum and Immigration, and (c) Planning and Environment.   
     
  2. Five High Court Judges will participate in the 2025 Pilot. One judge will sit in Family, one judge will sit in Planning and Environment and three judges will sit in Non-Jury/Judicial Review/Asylum and Immigration.  
     
  3. The 2025 Pilot will commence on 14 July 2025. The Long Vacation for the five judges participating in the 2025 Pilot will commence on 14 July 2025 and will end on 14 September 2025.
     
  4. The judges participating in the 2025 Pilot will be free to take their summer break during this period while continuing to carry out their other judicial duties, including their usual vacation sitting obligations, judgment preparation and writing, attending conferences and undertaking judicial training. They will sit as normal from Monday 15 September 2025. The 2025 Pilot will (subject to the following limited exceptions) not run in the week commencing 29 September 2025 (being the week before the commencement of the New Legal Year). The first limited exception arises in the Planning and Environment list where one case has already been listed for hearing in the second part of that week (2 – 3 October 2025) with the consent of the parties.  Further cases can be listed in that list that week if the parties so agree (but not otherwise).  The second limited exception is in the Family list, where the judge will sit on 29 and 30 September 2025 (to make up for the judge’s attendance at an important European family law conference on 25 and 26 September 2025). 
     
  5. During the course of the 2025 Pilot all other High Court Judges will continue to operate subject to the existing Long Vacation arrangements in August and September 2025.  All judicial work, apart from work subject to the 2025 Pilot, will continue in accordance with the normal arrangements.
     
  6. Any further necessary clarifications as to how the 2025 Pilot will work for the three High Court lists covered will be published in the Legal Diary within 14 days from the date of this Notice.
     
  7. The President of the High Court and the other judges in charge of the lists participating in the 2025 Pilot will seek to ensure that the arrangements for the Pilot will operate as smoothly, fairly and efficiently as possible for everyone involved. It is in envisaged that listing of cases covered by the 2025 Pilot in September 2025 will be on a consensual basis.  However, ultimately the fixing of dates will be a matter for the discretion of the judge in charge of the lists covered.
     
  8. Further details of the arrangements for the 2025 Pilot in respect of the lists covered (where necessary) will be published in the Legal Diary within 14 days of the date of publication this Notice.
     
  9. Finally, counsel will not be expected or required to robe when appearing in cases covered by the 2025 Pilot and should dress as they would for a vacation sitting.

 

25 March 2025
The Hon. Mr. Justice David Barniville
President of the High Court