A new Planning and Environmental Division of the High Court has been formally launched this morning (11 December) at the Four Courts in Dublin.

The President of the High Court Mr Justice David Barniville has issued a detailed practice direction on how the court will operate, and what categories of case it will deal with.

The Courts Service says that new procedures, rules, dedicated judges, technology, and a build-up of expertise in the area will allow for “more efficient and clearer” case-management and processing of cases.

The courts body adds that the new approach – and the assignment of an extra judge as the court worked towards its official establishment day – has already resulted in a 50% increase in the number of cases processed in the court.

Three judges

The new division will operate with three judges assigned to its work full-time, with the list presided over by Mr Justice Richard Humphreys (small picture).

Mr Justice Barniville said: “This new court will allow specialisation in a complex area. This, in turn, allows more robust and faster decision-making and less requirement to read into various complex technical areas.

“The plan is [that] the work of the court over time will lead to simpler, more effective law – thus supporting planning and environmental decision-making, as well as investment”.

Expertise

Mr Justice Humphreys described the types of cases to be covered by the court as “document-heavy, technicality-heavy and EU-law-heavy".

“The new specialised court will be better placed to keep track of developments in this complex area than would arise if such cases were dealt with in a general list,” he stated.

“The specialised court will enable the development of a high level of judicial expertise, which will strengthen the capacity of the courts to engage in properly independent review and analysis of evidence and submissions in this area of work,” Mr Justice Humphreys concluded.

New Practice Direction effective from today

Practice Direction HC124 has been signed by the President of the High Court and is effective from today (11 December).

Alongside Mr Justice Richard Humphreys, two other judges assigned to the division: Mr Justice David Holland; and Ms Justice Emily Farrell.

The practice direction sets out detailed rules for the efficient management of the business of the court.

Features of the new court include:

• Hearings will generally be paperless, with pleadings uploaded to an online platform – not delivered physically to the judge,
• Monday listings will be remote,
• The target is to produce judgments within two months, if possible. For transparency, lists of reserved judgments will be published every sitting week,
• All cases will be case-managed with default directions, which, generally, will be significantly varied only if parties so agree,
• The vast majority of cases will get a date for hearing in the next list to fix dates that follows the case being certified as ready,
• Hearings will be confined, generally, to three days. Before 2020, it would not be unusual for planning cases to run for two to three weeks, and
• A system of clear pleading requirements – including a need for the core grounds of challenge – will allow for the simplification of the whole process of identifying the issues in dispute.

The Courts Service says that the ongoing planned expansion of the court is likely to involve up to a 50% expansion of business, adding that this will require further judicial resources.

'Ongoing support'

It states that one judge is required for every 50-60 live cases. There are currently about 144 live cases in the list (equivalent to about 720,000 pages of materials), and the courts body says that the list is “already at or approaching capacity”, even with the third judge.

“The intention is to show how the extra resources are being used constructively, in order to make the case for ongoing support, as demand increases,” it says.

The Courts Service adds that the establishment of the court signals the priority being given to environmental litigation, as well as in resolving challenges to major infrastructural and other projects.

'Important step'

The Law Society of Ireland has welcomed the establishment of the new division, with President Barry MacCarthy describing it as "an important step in the reform of the planning system in the public interest".

"In the face of both housing and climate crises, the establishment of this specialist court recognises that efficient processing of planning and environmental cases is fundamental to access to justice and the pursuit of climate-conscious development," the president said.

"The Law Society will continue to work with Government and policy makers to advance progressive environmental and planning reforms that provide meaningful public participation in accordance with the Aarhus Convention and EU law," he concluded.