Dr. Laura Cahillane:

District Court judges have different functions to judges of the Court of Appeal or the Supreme Court. I agree that we should not necessarily look at having different systems of appointing judges, but we could look at having slightly different criteria for appointment. Dr. Kenny noted that the criteria across the board are very vague and we certainly need to refine them as a first step. Perhaps, when we are refining them we could look as Scotland has at having slightly different criteria for each judicial office. The criteria for appointment to the District Court could be tailored to what a judge on the court actually does. Similarly, the criteria could be tailored all the way up.