The President of the High Court, Mr Justice Joseph Finnegan, is normally reticent off the bench. He spoke to Legal Affairs Correspondent, Carol Coulter
There was some surprise in legal circles when Mr Justice Joseph Finnegan was appointed as President of the High Court four years ago. He had only been appointed to the High Court in 1999, and was therefore one of its most junior members, and he had no close political ties to the Government.
However, he has succeeded in reducing the considerable backlogs that had built up. This has been achieved by a close management of the lists, adjusting the assignment of judges on a daily basis throughout the day to maximise the use of resources.
The amount of work going through the courts has increased exponentially over the past three decades. He pointed out that in 1975 the High Court had six judges, along with the president. One did crime, two or three did personal injuries, and the others all the rest. "They were not exactly over-worked," he said.
Now there are four High Court judges dealing with crime (the High Court has exclusive jurisdiction for murders and rapes), two in the Court of Criminal Appeal three days a week, two in the Commercial Court and more dealing with commercial cases outside the Commercial Court, and still two or three dealing with personal injuries, though the volume has increased. The biggest increase, however, is in the number of judicial reviews being heard.
Some, but not all, of the increase in judicial reviews is due to challenges to asylum decisions. The number of judicial review cases has quadrupled in five years, from 679 in 2000 to 2,586 in 2004. About half of these relate to asylum cases, but the non-asylum cases increased from 755 in 2002 (the first year when they were counted separately) to 1,205 last year. Judicial reviews "consume" about six judges.
As well as sitting in court every day and his administrative duties, Mr Justice Finnegan has a number of statutory duties specific to his office. Of these one of the most important is responsibility for wards of court, adults and children who are not capable of administering their own affairs.
"I have 2,600 wards, of whom about 2,300 are adults. I make any decision of any size concerning their welfare or property. I sign about 60 orders every week. Some take two minutes, others take an hour." Some of the orders can include emergency decisions concerning medical treatment. He has personal responsibility for the investment of wards' funds, which total €520 million at the moment.
He also has responsibility for the regulation of various professions, including doctors, nurses and solicitors. The High Court has the final say in whether members of these bodies should be disciplined, including by being struck off. Since 2002 any individual who brings a complaint to the Solicitors' Disciplinary Tribunal can appeal if he or she is unsuccessful, and this has increased the number of cases involving solicitors from 14 in 2000 to 174 in 2004. The number of applications involving doctors has been stable at around 20 each year, and the number involving nurses is generally under 10.
The High Court president sits on numerous committees, which he describes as "a major problem in my life. I probably spend two days a week on administration".
He never had any doubts about his interest in law, which he studied in UCD. However, he became a solicitor rather than a barrister, and practised this profession for seven years. Between 1968 and 1973 he was full-time assistant secretary of the Law Society, and was expected to succeed the then secretary. But he opted to return to legal practice and after five years, in his mid-30s, switched over to become a barrister. "I was married, I had three children, I had no idea how we were going to feed ourselves. But I would have always wanted to go to the Bar," he said.
In his 11 years as a junior counsel he said he was "very good at the things no-one else knew anything about". As a result he featured in a very large number of reported cases - cases that end up in the Law Reports because they are seen as making new law - "a lot of which I lost. But they were always pushing the boundaries".
"When I was appointed to the High Court I got a letter from one member of the Supreme Court asking who would do the hopeless cases now." He was "surprised and delighted" to be asked to go on to the High Court, and stresses that this was not due to any political connection.
"The first time I met the Taoiseach was when I was made a judge, and the second time I met him was when I was made president." He is philosophical about the criticism judges receive. "Trenchant criticism of decisions does not bother me. You get used to vox pop type of criticism, where people get asked for their responses. You expect respect for the office rather than yourself. Insofar as judges appear pompous that can be a defence of the office rather than themselves."
In order to maintain that respect for the office of judge, he is adamant that judges have a duty not to misbehave. It also means avoiding social contact with former friends and colleagues in the legal world.
"The thing I miss most is the coffee room [ in the Four Courts]. I used to go for my breakfast and I would go after court. From the day I was appointed I never set foot in the library or in the restaurant. Within a week I had withdrawal symptoms. I still miss it."
Asked if he had friends outside law with whom he could socialise, he replied: "Very few. The last time I played golf was in August." His concern for the reputation of the judiciary extends to holding the view that its members should avoid driving, in case they are involved in an accident. "The only time a judge should be in court is when they are sitting."
Cars, however, are not his preferred mode of transport anyway. He is a motorcycle enthusiast, and until the development of a medical problem last year he and his wife biked all over Europe during their holidays, a past-time he intends to return to as soon as he has fully recovered.
"It's a lovely way to see the Continent. And if you are, let us say, distinguished by age from other motorcyclists everyone talks to you. You are invited into people's homes. That never happens when you are travelling by car. You can wander into a five-star hotel bespattered with flies and dust and ask for a room and no-one bats an eyelid."
He is very interested in legal education, of both solicitors and barristers. "I always stress that this is a profession, it is about providing a service, it is not about making money."