THE Central Criminal Court may resume hearings earlier this year in an attempt to clear a large backlog of serious criminal cases.
Court administrators met yesterday to discuss the possibility of cutting the court's two month summer recess following a request from the Minister for Justice, Mrs Owen.
It is understood the Minister had suggested the Central Criminal Court could sit with three judges from mid September instead of early October. The current court term comes to a close at the end of this month for the summer recess and the Michaelmas term is due to start on October 7th.
At present, there is a delay of over a year in bringing some cases to trial, mainly due to a shortage of judges and lack of back up staff in the DPP's and Chief State Solicitor's offices.
A barrister, Mr Eamon Leahy, said last week there were not enough judges to hear some 1,000 serious cases which pass through the courts each year. Mr Leahy complained that cases were often adjourned for up to nine months because there were no judges able to hear them.
A senior legal source insisted the delays in the Central Criminal Court were not related to the length of court sittings, but to "the low priority" accorded to criminal cases.