Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We have a commitment in our programme for Government about the reform of judicial appointments that we intend to keep. I believe we have excellent judges in this country, as the Deputy has said. Obviously given the critical importance of the role of our courts and our Judiciary, we have been very fortunate when one considers the experience of other countries in judicial appointments.

Both of these amendments are directed towards modifying the current regime which applies to the appointment of judges. The first amendment seeks to adjust the arrangements whereby the Judicial Appointments Advisory Board gives effect to its functions as a recommending body in respect of judicial vacancies by providing for the recommendation to the Minister of three names in respect of each vacancy.

It may be helpful to outline the provisions that apply to these matters. I am conscious that we recently discussed the same amendments when Deputy Mac Lochlainn recently introduced some legislation in the House. Under the Constitution, judges are appointed by the President on the advice of the Government. The current process for the appointment of judges in Ireland is set out in sections 12 to 17 of the Courts and Courts Officers Act 1995, which established the Judicial Appointments Advisory Board.

Upon request by the Minister, the board advertises and considers applications from persons interested in judicial office. The board is required under section 16 to forward the names of all applicants and recommend a minimum of seven candidates. Where there are fewer than seven applicants and where the board is unable to recommend to the Minister at least seven persons, it must submit to the Minister the name of each person nominated and recommend to the Minister for appointment to that office such of those persons as it considers suitable for appointment. Therefore, the role of the Judicial Appointments Advisory Board is extremely important and it has people of the highest calibre serving on it.

Section 16(5) provides that where more than one judicial office in the same court stands vacant, or in advance of more than one vacancy arising in the same court, at the request of the Minister, the board shall submit to the Minister the name of each person who has informed it of his or her wish to be considered for appointment and shall recommend to the Minister the names of at least seven persons who are suitable for each vacancy or such lesser number of names as the Minister shall specify following consultation with the board. The Deputy seeks to amend this particular provision.

The Deputy is suggesting a new section 16(5) of the Courts and Court Officers Act 1995. This would have the effect of allowing the advisory board to recommend three names for appointment for each vacancy where there is more than one vacancy. However, this would leave intact the existing provision whereby at least seven names would be furnished in respect of a single vacancy under section 16(2).

One would have the fairly extraordinary anomaly - I do not believe the Deputy meant this - whereby seven names could be recommended for one judicial vacancy and only six names would be recommended for two vacancies.

Amendment No. 5 tabled by the Deputy seeks to introduce a new provision whereby the Government shall, no later than 14 days in advance of the appointment of a judge, disclose a report indicating the reason it has recommended a person for appointment or promotion. At present, under section 16(6), in advising the President regarding the appointment of a person to a judicial office, the Government must first consider for appointment those persons whose names have been recommended to the Minister, as I have stated, by the Judicial Appointments Advisory Board. Section 16(8) then goes on to recommend that the names must be published in Iris Oifigiúiland the notice shall, if it be the case, include a statement that the name of the person was recommended by the board to the Minister pursuant to this section. I note the current Administration certainly has never gone outside the names that have been recommended by the Judicial Appointments Advisory Board.

I observe that, ultimately, a desire for more transparent and accountable procedures must be balanced against the requirements of confidentiality that are relevant to any appointment and it is in this context that the publication of reasons for appointing a person to judicial office needs careful consideration. I am sure the Deputy will agree that if one is to give public reasons regarding a person's appointment or non-appointment, as the case may be, by implication one must consider carefully the objective thereof, how it would be done and what was the precise objective - in respect of the level of detail - of publishing such information in advance of an appointment. I understand the Deputy is proposing that this be done 14 days before the appointment. I am not quite clear what is intended by the Deputy's amendment with regard to that period.

The Deputy will be aware that the Government and I are overseeing a consultation process on the system of judicial appointments with the intention of instituting reforms to enhance the current system. The Department received a significant amount of material earlier this year as part of the process, with views ranging across a significant number of areas including different aspects of the eligibility provisions, the precise role of the Judicial Appointments Advisory Board and a variety of other issues, including the arrangements for appointing judges. Quite a number of submissions were received for that review, which was initiated in December 2013 by the former Minister, Deputy Shatter, and obviously a time limit was set on the consultation period. A report on the outcome of the consultations, signalling key emerging issues, will become available shortly and options for legislative reform are at an advanced stage of preparation in the Department. It is inevitable that when I publish it, this report will become the focus of a further consultative process with all relevant stakeholders. It is anticipated that this process will take place in the second half of this year. I thank all those who made submissions to this process and an outline of legislative proposals will become available towards the end of 2014. In view of the ongoing consultation process in which the Government is involved and the submissions received from a variety of stakeholders on the very issue about which the Deputy has tabled her amendments, I hope she will understand that I do not wish to pre-empt the outcome of the process, which is well under way, and for that reason I am not in a position to accept the amendments.

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