NIAMH HOWLIN (ed.)
Four Courts Press
€55
ISBN 9781801511377
REVIEWED BY
James K. Meighan
James K. Meighan is a solicitor and holds a Ph.D from the University of Limerick.
This book has been published by the Irish Legal History Society to celebrate the centenary of the original architecture of the modern Irish judiciary. The Courts of Justice Act 1924 was introduced to supplement the provisions concerning the judiciary under the Irish Free State constitution. As the editor, Niamh Howlin, notes, the constitution mandated courts of first instance and a court of final appeal, but the detail as to the operation of the courts was left to legislation. This book considers the judicial interregnum, as referenced by Mr Justice Collins, between the enactment of the Irish Free State constitution and the structure of the judiciary following the enactment of the 1924 Act.
The book considers the Ireland into which the new judiciary was born. Diarmaid Ferriter sets the political scene of Ireland in 1924, considering, among other topics, the significant role played by the politics of the Anglo-Irish Treaty and the Catholic Church in the early years of the new state. Thomas Mohr examines the conflicting positions of the judiciary in operation in Ireland just before the coming into force of the Irish Free State constitution and the limited judiciary established under the Dáil constitution. He focuses on the measures introduced to wind up the Dáil courts, to lay the groundwork for the 1924 Act. Bláthna Ruane examines the establishment of judicial independence and the role played by the 1924 Act in that context. On the success of the 1924 Act, she notes that ‘the establishment of the new courts in 1924 was a critically important but under-appreciated success of the Irish Free State’.
Robert D. Marshall examines the appointment of members of the judiciary and Laura Cahillane considers their remuneration. Cahillane notes that the new judicial order embraced the concept of popular sovereignty and the separation of powers, which sought to ensure the independence of the judiciary, ‘since the judges would be the people’s judges rather than judges of the Crown’.
The editor considers the district court in action in 1923, examining the cases appearing before Ballybay District Court during that period. She notes that there were 233 cases listed before Ballybay District Court in 1923 on a wide range of matters, including malicious injury, trespass to property and assault.
Chief Justice O’Donnell considers the role of chief justice in Ireland, including historically the lord chief justice, with particular emphasis on the office in the context of the 1924 Act. As part of his study, he examines the pivotal role played by Hugh Kennedy, first chief justice of the supreme court established under the 1924 Act. Mr Justice O’Donnell’s fellow supreme court colleague, Mr Justice Hogan, considers the eventful period from November 1936 to January 1937 in the life of the supreme court. During this period the supreme court increased from three to five members and Mr Justice Wylie resigned from the high court, which gave the Fianna Fáil government its first opportunity to make a judicial appointment to either the high or the supreme court. The sudden death of 57-year-old Chief Justice Hugh Kennedy on 12 December 1936 was a significant blow to the evolving judiciary, particularly the supreme court; as Mr Justice Hogan notes, ‘Kennedy had been such a dominant force in the momentous changes in the legal system from the days of the Civil War through the very establishment of the court system that it must have been almost hard at the time to visualise the Supreme Court without his forceful presence’.
The president of the high court, Mr Justice Barniville, considers the establishment of the high court under the 1924 Act, with a particular emphasis on the role of president of the court and their jurisdiction over certain matters including wardship, professional regulation and arbitration.
Niamh Howlin and Mark Coen consider the role of women and the 1924 Act. They note that it was not entirely unknown for women to be seen working in the courts in various capacities in 1924. The enactment of the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919 removed the legal impediment on women qualifying and practising in the legal profession. Howlin and Coen examine specific women practising in the legal profession in the 1920s and 1930s.
The editor discharges her responsibility to the book in a very competent and steadfast manner. Howlin has gathered the modern experts on the discrete areas considered: Ferriter on history, Mohr and McGuigan on the contemporaneous operation of the judiciary, Ruane on the early judiciary, Cahillane on the structures around judicial controls and compensation, and Dickson on aspects concerning Northern Ireland. The editor also engages with the modern judiciary, with chapters from the present chief justice, the president of the high court, the president of the circuit court, a former president of the district court and a number of superior court judges still on the bench. While the academic contributions breathe life into the book, the contributions from the judiciary engage the reader and demonstrate the continued significant relevance of the 1924 Act.
While it is easy and arguably understandable to disregard a century-old piece of legislation, in reality the 1924 Act played a pivotal role in establishing the Irish state. The law that underpins the Irish state is enforced through the structures created under the 1924 Act. While these structures have evolved, they have remained substantially intact over the past 100 years. This book examines these themes in a comprehensive, enlightening and authoritative manner.