Courts Act, 1982 (Private Members Bill)
Material in this file relates to the Courts Act, 1982 (Private Members Bill) which sought to introduce an Act to amend the Courts Bill, 1981, by postponing for a further 12 months the coming into operation of certain sections of that Bill which proposed to transfer jurisdiction in important areas of family law from the High Court to the District and Circuit Courts. It was drafted by Mary Robinson (MR) and introduced by Labour Leader Dick Spring in order to give time for the District and Circuit Courts to become better equipped to handle these cases as well as the opportunity to consider whether this was best course of action. The Government was also being called on to allocate time in the Dáil for discussion of the bill.
The file includes photocopy of Courts (Amendment) Bill, 1982 Arrangement in Sections; photocopy of circular from MR on the need for urgent consideration of the Bill before 12th May 1982, with copy of Courts Bill 1982 which she drafted, 30/04/1982; press release from Cherish [Irish Association of Single Parents] and circular from its chairperson, Mary Liddy, to members of the Dáil Éireann [lower house of Irish parliament], expressing concern that the decision to transfer jurisdiction would give rise to difficulties in the area of family law, calling on the government to allow time for the deferment to be discussed and expressing hope that a deferment would reopen the possibility of establishing family courts with proper facilities, 01/05/1982; letter on behalf of Brendan Allen, President, The Incorporated Law Society of Ireland, to MR, regretting that he could not support her amendment either privately or publicly, 04/05/1982; correspondence from Clara Clarke, Organising Secretary, Council for the Status of Women, including their press release calling on the Government to allocate time for discussion on Courts Bill 1982, 04/05/1982 and replies from various TDs [Teachta Dála, member of Dáil Éireann] to MR who had sent the press release to them, 04-11/05/1982; letter from AIM [Action Information Motivation] Group to the Letters Editor [National press?], relating to their concern that women seeking Protection or Barring orders were being turned away due to family law-related summonses not being served in many District and Circuit Courts, 19/05/1982; letter from Kathleen Chandler for Mary Liddy, listing TDs who had responded to press release being sent to them, 25/05/1982; cuttings 05-20/05/1982.