An expert on family law has warned that a proposal to transfer divorce and judicial-separation proceedings from the Circuit Court to the District Court is likely to result in “a system that does not function”.

The proposal is one of the measures contained in the Family Courts Bill 2022, which sets up dedicated family-law divisions of the High Court, Circuit Court, and District Court.

Writing in the winter 2023 issue of The Parchment, the magazine of the Dublin Solicitors Bar Association (DSBA), Keith Walsh SC welcomes most of the proposed changes as “long overdue”.

He adds that the proposal to move divorce and separation proceedings may also have “the best of intentions”.

“In practice, it is likely to result in significant delays for all litigants in the District Court, gridlock for judicial-separation and divorce applicants, and result in a system that currently is in need of overhaul being replaced with a system that does not function,” Walsh (pictured) warns.

Call for task force

The solicitor expresses concern that divorce and judicial-separation cases, which are generally more complex and lengthier, will result in less time being available for other family-law cases – including those involving domestic violence, guardianship, custody, access, and maintenance.

He adds that the infrastructure of the District Court is unsuitable to deal with divorce and judicial-separation cases.

Walsh argues that almost all of the proposed changes could be made within the current system with less cost and far greater effectiveness than the transfer of cases to the District Court.

He calls for the appointment of a task force of stakeholders in the family-justice system with a brief to reform the current District and Circuit Court procedures, with a view to making the system more efficient.