A High Court judge has described a woman’s 30-year pursuit of a “vendetta” against her brother in a dispute over a small family farm in Co Sligo as the “worst example of the weaponisation of the courts” he has seen. In 1961, he said, there were 400 per cent more District Courts than High Courts in the State. There are now 51 High Court judges in the State, five times more per head than in England and Wales. Mr Justice Twomey said it was the Oireachtas, not judges or lawyers, which determines the rules for calculating legal costs that have set High Court costs at millionaire levels. Any reduction in legal costs would make the system better for the litigant but “might not be regarded as being in the interests of the legal profession”.

Source: The Irish Times May 15, 2024 19:14 UTC