Results 15,721-15,740 of 18,736 for speaker:Michael McDowell

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2018)

Michael McDowell: That is very unfair.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2018)

Michael McDowell: I want to correct a false impression which the Minister has created. He has suggested that I am against it being possible to prosecute a confidentiality breach on a summary basis. I am not against that. I am saying that, if that is the only basis on which a breach can be prosecuted, there can, as Senator Norris has picked up, be no effective investigation of someone who participates in a...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2018)

Michael McDowell: -----or of someone who receives the information from a leak. The Minister has not dealt with this. He is either serious about this or he is not. Amendment No. 70, which is in the names of Senators Boyhan, Craughwell and me, makes it very clear that we have no objection to a summary disposal in the District Court of such an offence. The proposed section 28(2) of the amendment states:Any...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2018)

Michael McDowell: It is simply wrong to suggest that I have some problem with the existence of a summary jurisdiction to deal with this. I have said plainly, and I will say it now on the record of this House, that I have no such problem in the case of minor offences. If it is a minor offence, I have no problem with it being dealt with summarily but the consequence of saying that is the only way in which it...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2018)

Michael McDowell: I presume both the journalist and the garda kept their positions and the women who were confronted on their doorsteps and asked to confirm whether they had been the subject of a backstreet abortion had no remedy for this massive intrusion on their privacy, regardless of whether they had been involved in such a matter. I want to make it very clear that it is simply not the case that I am...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2018)

Michael McDowell: Yes. The wording is:The Commission may as it considers necessary to assist it in the performance of its functions —(a) enter into contracts or arrangements with any person, and (b) with the consent of the Minister, appoint consultants or advisers. There is a distinction here between “any person” and appointed consultants and advisers. I ask the House to remember that....

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2018)

Michael McDowell: It could be catastrophic if the expert appointed by the commission decided that a particular judge was not suitable for promotion or that a barrister or solicitor was unsuitable. Presumably there is going to be a documentary record of such decisions because they are going to be made under a contract and the person who provides this evaluation is going to come to quite subjective views about...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2018)

Michael McDowell: Could I make another point? Supposing a sitting judge was regarded as a bit of a mistake - these kinds of things can happen-----

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2018)

Michael McDowell: Supposing a sitting judge was considered to be a bit of a mistake and supposing the evaluation was more or less to that effect, that he or she was struggling to do the work he or she was doing at the moment and should not be appointed to any further position.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2018)

Michael McDowell: I am not being tempted into irrelevance here. I am dealing strictly with what is relevant. I welcome Senator Lawlor to the House and am glad this morning’s proceedings have made him more interested in the Bill.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2018)

Michael McDowell: I say that without any malice whatsoever. I welcome the Senator’s presence.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2018)

Michael McDowell: I am not going to get into the discussion. I am not going to get stuck.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2018)

Michael McDowell: I am not going to get diverted into comments about current members of the Judiciary. I am saying it is perfectly conceivable that a proper evaluation of a sitting judge might come to the conclusion that the person is having enough difficulty firing on all cylinders in the court he or she is in and is certainly unworthy for promotion. If that report was reduced to writing and leaked, the...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2018)

Michael McDowell: If the Minister is serious about this proposal, there must be investigability. He must provide for the power to detain the person who leaks that information and put him or her through the ordinary process of questioning for a serious offence under the Criminal Justice Act 1984. In the absence of such a power, this confidentiality obligation is more or less worthless. The Minister suggested...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2018)

Michael McDowell: Thank God it is an exceptional case that something so awful could happen. If there are no sanctions, however, it will not be an exceptional case. If one can ride roughshod through a summary procedure and summary sanction, just ignore the law and send polite solicitors' letters to clients-----

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2018)

Michael McDowell: One can ignore the law if there is no-----

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2018)

Michael McDowell: The Minister is a skilled legal practitioner with a long record in the practice of law. He knows well that the question of sanction does not arise until guilt has been established.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2018)

Michael McDowell: In addition, there are no prosecutions unless there is evidence. Imagine if one were caught for drink-driving and one was able to hand a preprinted card to the garda and say: "Consult my solicitor. I am driving home."

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2018)

Michael McDowell: Okay, I am a Member of the Oireachtas. My point is that these things could be very serious. A garda could impart a piece of tittle-tattle which has no serious consequence, and the Garda Síochána Act was specifically and carefully crafted to state that it had to have very serious adverse consequences before an offence would be committed. In this case, however, it is not necessary...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2018)

Michael McDowell: I am glad the Minister will do that. The Minister is correct that amendment No. 67 is effectively consequential on my objections to section 11(7) and 11(8). I will not move that amendment because it would be pointless to remove the reference to advisers at this stage unless section 11 is revisited. I still object to section 11, which is wrong-headed.