The Minister for Justice favours the setting up of a system of local specialist family courts. Carol Coulter, Legal Affairs Editor, reports.
In an interview with The Irish Times, Brian Lenihan said the Constitution permitted the setting up of courts of limited jurisdiction. "I feel that we could have distinct family law districts or circuits," he said. "We could divide the country into, say, three family law circuits."
In a wide-ranging interview, Mr Lenihan discussed the forthcoming Immigration and Residence Bill, the need to legislate for a judicial council, the establishment of a DNA database and the need for a new approach to alcohol abuse.
Commenting on recent debate about the flaws in the family law system, including a proposal from Fine Gael to have a referendum to establish a separate family law jurisdiction, he said he did not want to dismiss such a suggestion, but he thought it was not necessary.
He said a separate family law jurisdiction would be a duplication of resources and having a unified Courts Service and a unified court system was a good idea.
"We are a small jurisdiction. It is important that judges get experience of different areas of the law.
"I am not convinced a constitutional change to entrench family courts would reduce costs, which are a very big problem in family law. There would be a need for a new infrastructure and so on.
"A separate family law court would mean there would be judges to exercise their jurisdiction in this and no other field. You could have difficulty in finding judges to staff such courts on a lifetime basis."
Mr Lenihan said it would be better to look at the present system and see how it could be modified to ensure that there were courts dedicated to hearing family law.
"The Constitution is flexible enough to allow courts of limited jurisdiction, so there is nothing to stop local family courts as it stands. There is a real need for expertise.
"You could have dedicated judges hearing family law, with nothing else being heard at the same time. It would allow for a more efficient use of court space as well," he said.
He said district courts represented a separate problem, as there was a need for open and emergency access to the district courts in family law matters. They also dealt with children's matters. However, there was provision for an increase in the number of district judges in the Miscellaneous Provisions Bill, and this would include increased provision for matters relating to children.
Referring to immigration, he said the new Bill would introduce a new asylum application system that would bring all three grounds to remain in Ireland into one application. A person could seek permission on grounds of needing asylum, of fearing "refoulement" to a country where he or she would be in danger, and on humanitarian grounds. This would avoid people being in the system for years, he said.