The board which will manage the transfer of responsibility for the courts system from the Minister for Justice to the new Courts Service has been established. It is chaired by the Chief Justice, Mr Justice Hamilton. Its members include the director of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, Ms Olive Braiden.
Under the Courts Service Act, 1996, the transfer of responsibility for the functioning of the courts must take place within a year of the appointment of the "transitional board".
Mrs Justice Denham, who chairs the Working Group of the Courts Commission, has predicted that the independent courts system will be more accessible and community-friendly.
The members of the transitional board are:
Mr Justice Hamilton, Chief Justice, chairman;
Mrs Justice Denham, judge of the Supreme Court;
Mr Justice O'Flaherty, judge of the Supreme Court;
Mr Justice Morris, President of the High Court;
Mr Justice Kelly, judge of the High Court;
Mr Justice Smythe, President of the Circuit Court;
Mr Sean O'Leary, judge of the Circuit Court;
Mr Peter Smithwick, President of the District Court;
Mr James Paul McDonnell, judge of the District Court;
Mr John McMenamin, chairman of the Bar Council of Ireland;
Mr Laurence K. Shields, president of the Law Society;
Ms Noreen Green, nominee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions;
Mr Sean Aylward, Assistant Secretary of the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform;
Ms Elisha D'Arcy, higher executive officer, staff representative;
Ms Olive Braiden, director, Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, ministerial nominee to represent court-users; and Ms Elizabeth O'Neill, O'Neill's Supermarket, Caherciveen, Co Kerry, Ministerial nominee to represent finance, commerce and administrative sectors.