Jillian van Turnhout (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 20:

In page 35, line 8, to delete “judgment” and substitute “judgement”.

While it may seem as though I am being pedantic by tabling an amendment that seeks to change one letter in the text from "judgment" to "judgement", all too often one hears about the letter of the law rather than its spirit. I am trying to ensure there is absolute clarity that the Minister will get professional judgment from whatever profession that judgment should come. According to R. M. Ritter, who I believe to be the authoritative source and is the author of The Oxford Guide to Style, published by Oxford University Press in 2002, in British English the spelling "judgment" is correct when referring to the formal ruling of a court or a judge, whereas the spelling "judgement" is used for other meanings. I put it to the Minister that "judgment" is used exclusively for legal judgments handed down by the law and the correct spelling in this context requires an “E”.

I acknowledge the Minister can examine other legislation to ascertain whether this was done but I believe an opportunity exists to ensure absolute clarity and to prevent anyone from claiming subsequently that one can only look at a judge's formal ruling when considering the advice to be given to the Minister. This amendment and amendment No. 31 will ensure clarity and I hope it is accepted by the Minister because Members facilitated the holding of Report Stage this week rather than next week as had been planned, to allow the Bill to revert to the Dáil, if necessary. I acknowledge it is quite a small issue but there is a chance to get it absolutely perfect. Members have a chance to ensure absolute and utter clarity. As I stated on Committee Stage, I have spoken to several legal people in this regard. Normally, the error is the other way around but in this instance, the letter "E" has been omitted and as I believe the word should be spelled "judgement", I ask the Minister to accept the amendment.