Login | December 13, 2024
Judge O’Brien gets look at Northern Ireland’s judicial system
SHERRY KARABIN
Legal News Reporter
Published: December 13, 2024
Summit County Court of Common Pleas Judge Tammy O’Brien recently returned from a two-week trip abroad, which included a stop in Northern Ireland, where she got the chance to learn about the judicial system, observe court proceedings and reconnect with relatives.
The trip began on Sept. 18 when Judge O’Brien and her husband, Nathan Carmon, arrived in Paris. After attending a wedding in Valenciennes in northern France, and briefly visiting Amsterdam, they made their way to Belfast, Northern Ireland on Sept. 24.
They were greeted by a distant cousin of Judge O’Brien’s, Kevin Byers, and his son Christy, who arranged for Judge O’Brien to spend a day at the Royal Courts of Justice.
Christy Byers is the manager of the King’s Bench Division of the High Court, which is housed at the Royal Courts of Justice in Belfast.
The King’s Bench handles most civil matters, including business and contract disputes, claims for damages, bail applications and appeals. As manager, Christy is charged with coordinating the scheduling of civil matters and assisting the judges with administrative issues.
“Initially the plan was for my husband and me to tour Northern Ireland and meet with relatives, but Kevin thought it would also be interesting for me to visit the court and see the differences in their system,” said Judge O’Brien.
A small country with a population of just under two million people, Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom.
The justice system includes county courts, which handle both minor criminal offenses and civil cases of lesser value, and the Royal Courts of Justice, where the more substantial civil and serious criminal cases are heard.
Judge O’Brien said she spent most of her time sitting in on cases involving medical negligence, commercial, contract and personal injury damages. She was able to observe the plaintiff’s testimony in a motor vehicle accident case, which was being heard by Justice Adrian Colton.
“The biggest surprise for me was the large number of lawyers present for even a routine matter like a motor vehicle accident,” said Judge O’Brien. “Each side has one solicitor and two barristers for a total of six counsel.”
Judge O’Brien said the difference between solicitors and barristers is that the former are private practice lawyers who represent clients. They also do the initial investigative work on the case. Barristers, on the other hand, are independent contractors hired by solicitors to try the case before the court.
“The judge and barristers wear wigs and robes during the proceedings, but sometimes judges remove their wigs as the trial proceeds because they are uncomfortable,” said Judge O’Brien.
One other surprise, she said, is that only limited discovery takes place prior to trial, so counsel do not have the opportunity to depose the witness or witnesses beforehand.
“While I wasn’t there for the outcome of the trial, I did hear that the negotiations continued over lunch, and the amounts discussed were much greater than they would have been for a similar matter in Summit County,” Judge O’Brien said.
Judge O’Brien was invited to join Justice Colton for lunch.
“We talked about his calendar and other issues,” she said. “I was surprised to learn that in addition to pretrial matters, judges in Northern Ireland have numerous trials on their dockets daily.
“It’s not unusual for the parties in several matters to be present at the court and conduct negotiations on the morning of the trials, so a judge never knows which trials will move forward on a given day.”
Due to the tumultuous history of Northern Ireland, Judge O’Brien said there’s a great deal of focus on keeping the judges safe, with the judges having daily drivers and security systems in their homes.
She said Justice Colton explained that while any danger to judges has been considerably diminished in recent years, they are still mindful of security issues.
Another interesting revelation, she said, was the large number of defamation actions filed in the courts and other parts of the United Kingdom compared to the U.S., due to the differences in free speech laws. The cases are also one of the few civil matters heard by a jury.
“Shortly before I arrived, one high-profile case involving the singer Van Morrison was settled,” she said.
The competing defamation suits filed by the singer and former Northern Ireland Minister of Health Robin Swann involved a disagreement over Covid-19 safety protocols. Swann sued the singer for slander after Morrison declared that his response to the crisis was “very dangerous.” Morrison filed a separate action against Swann and the Department of Health over an opinion piece published in Rolling Stone Magazine that argued some of the singer’s criticism of the lockdown rules was “actually dangerous.”
Judge O’Brien also met Lady Chief Justice Siobhan Keegan and Madam Justice Denise McBride, the first female judges to ever serve on the High Court.
“Chief Justice Keegan was also the country’s first female chief justice,” said Judge O’Brien.
“Judges in Northern Ireland are appointed by the independent Northern Ireland Judicial Appointments Commission and if someone needs to be removed from office, it is up to the chief justice to do so.
“We talked about the differences between our systems, in which judges are elected, versus a system of appointed judges, and how our ethical rules and procedures seek to prevent bias when judges are elected,” said Judge O’Brien.
Although Judge O’Brien said she was excited to learn about the justice system, she also connected with family, meeting her third cousin Kevin Byers for the first time.
“He is Christy’s father and we share a great-great-grandmother named Rose Tomelty,” said Judge O’Brien. “Rose’s son John Gordon, my great-grandfather was raised in a small fishing village south of Belfast called Portaferry, which is where Kevin and Christy still live.
“My great-grandfather settled in what is now Lakewood, Ohio in the late 1800s. In the 1970s, Kevin’s father reached out to the Catholic parish in Lakewood and was able to locate my grandmother and great-aunt and our families have remained in touch ever since.
“It was great making connections with my extended family,” said Judge O’Brien. “My father had wanted to take the trip with us but now he is unable to travel. He was very happy that my husband and I went.”
The last portion of the trip was spent in the Republic of Ireland, where Judge O’Brien and her husband toured Galway and Dublin.
“We visited the School of Falconry at Ashford Castle, north of Galway, and we did a Hawk walk, which was amazing,” she said. “We put on a big glove and the hawks landed on our arms. It’s one of those things you don’t know you want to do until you do it.
“It was a great experience and the castle grounds were beautiful,” Judge O’Brien said.