1919. The latter, only fully operational in the west of Ireland and with limited jurisdiction in property disputes, had been coming under pressure to try criminal cases. The critical difference between the two systems was the power to adjudicate assumed by the new courts regardless of the wishes of the parties. While the Arbitration Courts could have been characterised as within the tradition of contract law, the latter assumed powers of coercion characteristic of a state. The new system of Dáil Courts established on 29 June 1920 was therefore much more ambitious and more geographically widespread than its predecessor. A proposed amendment, by Ulster deputies Joseph O'Doherty and Ernest Blythe, to remove the right of clergymen to sit as ex-officio members, was defeated. The first meeting of a Sinn Féin/republican court was in Ballinrobe, South Mayo. In his witness statement, (Bureau of Military History) William T. O'Keeffe, a Staff Officer with the South Mayo Brigade, IRA, credited men from the Claremorris Battalion, Commandant P.R. Hughes in particular (Hughes was Officer in Command of IRA Intelligence and Communications and later appointed one of the first District Justices of the Irish Free State in 1923) along with solicitor Connor A. Maguire (who became a Barrister-at-Law in 1922, and who later served as Attorney General of the Irish Free State (1932), President of the High Court (1936) and Chief Justice (1946)) as being responsible for the establishment of the first Sinn Féin courts. Subsequently, Comdt. Hughes and Maguire sat as judges in the courts. Overview Henry Hanna KC, of the High Court of the Irish Free State explained some of the reasons why the Dáil Courts successfully took root as follows: The system consisted of: Parish Courts, which dealt with the most minor civil and criminal matters, District Courts, which dealt with more serious civil and criminal matters and which heard appeals from the Parish Court, Circuit Courts composed of four circuits, with unlimited civil and criminal jurisdiction, and a Supreme Court, operating as both a court of first instance and an appellate court. Judge Hanna, in his overview of the Courts, illustrated the anti-British nature of the 'movement' by referring to this provision of the Code of Rules of the Dáil Courts: Disputes heard The extent of the operation of the Dáil Court system may be judged from the fact that 900 Parish Courts and 77 District Courts came into operation. Among