Staff at the Chief State Solicitor's Office agreed to suspend yesterday's threatened strike pending the report of an independent third party on their dispute.
The action by solicitors, legal officers and technical staff, which would have severely disrupted the court system, had been due to begin at 11 a.m. in protest over understaffing and poor career structures.
"The third party will examine the issues and the gap between us and the employers," an official of the IMPACT trade union, representing staff, said.
"Terms of reference have been set for the third party who will try to come up with a resolution to the dispute."
The third party, who hasn't yet been named, has been agreed on by Government and IMPACT and will be expected to report within six weeks.