We are going to have another Referendum this autumn. The government has approved the holding of the referendum to provide for the establishment of a new Court of Appeal.

There is currently a significant backlog of cases before the Supreme Court and non-priority cases now take about 4 years before being heard.

Earlier this year the Chief Justice announced her decision not to accept any new priority cases given that there were already over 70 cases on the priority list.

The Minister for Justice Alan Shatter announced the move, saying "“This is just the first step on the road to a Referendum of the People which will be held in the Autumn. Work will now proceed on the preparation of the necessary legislation and the Government will consult with interested parties on the detail of that legislation over the coming months".

The Minister said the proposed constitutional amendments will be published as early as possible "in order to give people time to reflect on what is proposed and to allow for a rational and considered debate"

The new Court of Appeal would deal with most cases that are currently dealt with by the Supreme Court, thus reducing its workload and allowing it to focus on the development of the law.

The Department of Justice says the model for the new Court is largely drawn from the seminal Report of the Working Group on a Court of Appeal, which was chaired by now Chief Justice Denham and published in 2009.