'A Century of Courts' Conference

On 12 April 2024, the Chief Justice and other members of the Supreme Court spoke at a conference organised by Dr Niamh Howlin (UCD) designed to commemorate 100-years of Ireland’s modern and independent courts system, established under the Courts of Justice Act 1924. The event involved collaboration between the Courts Service, UCD, the Irish Legal History Society, An Post, Four Courts Press, the OPW, academics and the judiciary and was held at Dublin Castle, the venue of the first sitting of the new courts in 1924.

The programme included speaker panels, guided tours of Dublin Castle, a multi-media exhibition which focused on the location of the courts, the judiciary and high-profile trials, and a musical performance by harpist Teresa O’Donnell.

Mr Justice Maurice Collins took part in the first panel session of the day titled ‘Grappling with Change’, chaired by Ms Justice Iseult O'Malley, and spoke about the ‘Judicial Interregnum’ 1922-1924. The final session of the day focused on the Superior Courts and featured contributions from the Chief Justice, Mr Justice Donal O’Donnell (‘Who would be a Chief Justice?’), the President of the High Court, Mr Justice David Barniville (‘The role of President of the High Court’) and Mr Justice Gerard Hogan (‘The Supreme Court and the Winter of 1936-1937’).

The Chief Justice delivered the closing remarks of the conference. The papers delivered at the conference will be published by Four Courts Press later this year.