Second Judge confirmed for Portlaoise District Court
A second Judge is due to be assigned to Portlaoise District Court in the new year.
The announcement comes a year after Judge Andrew Cody first expressed concerns about the volume of business at the court.
Judge Cody raised the issue in October 2022 when he argued that an additional Judge would be needed to help deal with the volume of business.
In June this year he repeated his concerns about the number of cases being heard in the court every Thursday.
On the date in question, he noted there were 358 cases listed and said the number was likely to rise to 370 before the end of the day. In order to deal with the volume of business, Judge Cody said it would be necessary to give each case just 45 seconds.
He said allowing only 45 seconds per case would be unfair to everyone involved.
“The sooner there is a new courthouse and an additional Judge the better,” Judge Cody said at the time.
It seems Judge Cody has prevailed as a new Judge is expected to sit in Portlaoise every Monday from the start of the new year.
A spokesperson for the Court Services confirmed the move in a statement to the Leinster Express/Laois Live.
“The President of the District Court, Judge Paul Kelly is currently in a position to be able to assign additional judicial resources to Portlaoise and it is planned to have extra sittings on Mondays from the new year.
Like all such assignments it is likely it will initially run for a number of months to allow time for it take effect, and to review the impact of the additional sittings on waiting times for cases,” the spokesperson said.
Portlaoise District Court is one of the busiest District Courts in Ireland.