The 500-page Administration of Civil Justice Review, chaired by Mr Justice Peter Kelly, is to recommend reform in the areas of:

• Discovery,
• Judicial review,
• Costs,
• Multi-party litigation,
• Broader court reform.

The report of the review group, which began its work in September 2017, has now gone to the Minister for Justice.

The review group comprised members from each court, the Law Society, the Bar Council and civil servants from various departments.

It has been meeting for three years on a regular basis, including at sub-committee level.

Manageable

Review group member Stuart Gilhooly told the Law Society litigation seminar yesterday (29 October) that the proposed measures will change the way the solicitor profession operates, but in a manageable fashion.

“As a profession, we have always adapted to any change,” he said.

Some of the reforms will involve primary legislation, he revealed, but many others will require court rule changes or merely the enforcement of current rules.