Dr. Jennifer Carroll MacNeill:

By way of example, some Irish judges go to what is called Judge School in Scotland. One of the issues that might face a male judge is how to take evidence from a lady wearing a full burqa in circumstances where he cannot see her face. Does he go into chambers and is the lady going to be comfortable with this? Can one take evidence and so on? These are human issues that have nothing to do with legal expertise but are a necessary part of the judging function. The Judicial Appointments Board for Scotland and its processes provide a very useful comparator because the legal profession in Scotland is about the same size and because the population of Scotland is generally the same and the two boards have been given very similar powers.

The Judicial Appointments Board for Scotland which is dominated by laypersons and chaired by a layperson takes a much more rigorous approach to the investigation of different candidates, including interviewing and role playing.

It was stated in the Dáil in February that the Chief Justice had written to the Minister for Justice and Equality indicating that the Judicial Appointments Advisory Board would begin to conduct interviews. This power has been in the Judicial Appointments Advisory Board legislation for 20 years. I do not know whether interviews were conducted in the more recent appointments. While one would expect that they were, given the number of appointments involved and the statement by the board in January that it would engage in interviews, I do not know if that was the case. It would be very important to ensure sitting judges were not involved in interviewing judicial aspirants, as any such involvement would present a very strong threat to judicial independence. Perhaps the joint committee might find out what is the position.