Court cases are becoming “longer and longer” and should be more concise, a Supreme Court judge said as he retired after two decades on the bench. Judge Peter Charleton said he and others have made efforts to shorten hearings, as “consision is needed in our courts” but “we are not there” yet. He compared Irish courts’ management of legal cases to how cases are run in the United States. The judge, who has served in the Supreme Court since 2014 and on the bench since 2006, said he has always noticed litigants in the Four Courts who “lean their heads against the stone walls” while waiting for their cases to be heard. During the tributes, speakers said Charleton wrote a significant number of legal books and articles alongside his practice as a barrister and while a judge.

Source: The Irish Times March 28, 2026 06:21 UTC