Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Group of States against Corruption, GRECO, which is a Council of Europe body, has published a draft report criticising the changes to the judicial appointments system proposed in the Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017.

This follows an extraordinary intervention by the presidents of the five Irish courts. They directly contradict the views of the Government that there has been in-depth consultation with the Judiciary. They say that replacing the Chief Justice as chairperson, reducing the number of judges on the commission, creating a lay majority and having a lay chairperson accountable to Parliament were components which had never been subject to an independent review or scrutiny or expert report.

In light of all the views throughout Europe about independent judiciaries and the concerns about the undermining of judicial independence, as well as the views of GRECO and the European Commission, will the Taoiseach pause and reflect again on the Bill?

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