The Government\u2019s decision to abandon plans to move certain immigration and planning judicial review cases from the High Court to the Circuit Court is both welcome and necessary, according to Social Democrats justice spokesperson Gary Gannon TD.<\/p>\n
Deputy Gannon said:<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile this decision is welcome, it should never have come to this. This proposal would have piled even more pressure onto a system that is already buckling.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt risked fundamentally altering how complex judicial review cases are handled, without any clear evidential basis that it would improve outcomes.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis U-turn is emblematic of Justice Minister Jim O\u2019Callaghan\u2019s approach to legislation. We\u2019ve seen it already with the International Protection Bill – significant heads left off, no real justification for key decisions, and consistent attempts to fob off opposition and human rights bodies raising legitimate concerns.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a helter-skelter approach to lawmaking, and it will have real, lasting consequences for our judicial system if it is to continue.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe message from experts at yesterday\u2019s pre-legislative scrutiny was crystal clear: moving these cases out of the High Court would have done untold harm to some of the most vulnerable people in our society, particularly those navigating the immigration system.<\/p>\n
\u201cHuman rights bodies and legal experts, including the Irish Refugee Council, the Bar Council of Ireland, and FLAC, were unequivocal in these warnings – this cannot just be brushed off as a corrected mistake.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis mishap should force a wider rethink of how Minister O\u2019Callaghan legislates, which is a rushed process that\u2019s dismissive of expert evidence. Things cannot continue to function this way, and I urge the Minister and his Department to alter their course.\u201d<\/p>\n
March 25th, 2026<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Government\u2019s decision to abandon plans to move certain immigration and planning judicial review cases from the High Court to the Circuit Court is both welcome and necessary, according to Social Democrats justice spokesperson Gary Gannon TD. Deputy Gannon said: \u201cWhile this decision is welcome, it should never have come to this. This proposal would […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":13549,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[316,528,411,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16617","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gary-gannon","category-immigration","category-justice","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n