Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for his interesting contribution. I am not certain that much of it has anything to do with the question in hand, but I take his point. I am never certain about the equality before the law either. If there was true equality before the law, those who are called as witnesses would not have their title disclosed when they are called. It has an undue influence from time to time, as if somehow their evidence is more pertinent than that of the rest of us old sops who do not have any titles. With regard to the American system, while this might be a good idea I am not sure that we would take on many of its other practices.

I thank the Senator for raising this issue and, on behalf of the Minister for Justice and Equality who cannot be here today, I acknowledge the importance of the matters to which the Senator refers. We are very lucky in this country that our Judiciary is independent and acts with great integrity. We can all agree that an independent Judiciary, the integrity of which is beyond question, is fundamental to the working of our democracy and essential in terms of upholding the rule of law upon which all our citizens rely. The Senator will be aware that Article 35.4.1 of the Constitution states that a judge of the Supreme Court or the High Court shall not be removed from office except for stated misbehaviour or incapacity, and then only upon resolutions passed by Dáil Éireann and Seanad Éireann calling for his or her removal. This constitutional process has been extended by statute to the question of removal and dismissal of Circuit and District Court judges. That is an improvement. Otherwise, with the exception of statutory provisions dealing with investigating and reprimanding judges of the District Court, there is no means of investigating or dealing with allegations which are not sufficiently serious to merit the invocation of the constitutional provisions. Both this and previous Governments have been conscious of the fact that there is a need for an alternative structure to be put in place to deal with allegations of this nature and the development of such a structure is a key driver behind the Judicial Council Bill.

The current draft of the Bill provides for the establishment of a judicial council and board that will promote excellence and high standards of conduct by judges. It will also provide a means of investigating allegations of judicial misconduct. In this context, a judicial conduct committee, which will have lay representation, will be established. Finally, it will facilitate the ongoing support and education of judges through a judicial studies committee and through the establishment of judicial support committees. I assure the Senator that there is no hidden agenda behind the fact that the Bill has yet to be published. It is a regrettable reality that the finalisation of the Bill has had to give way to other pressing priorities in the legislative area, but the Government remains firmly of the view that it is of the utmost importance that this legislation be advanced within a speedy time frame. I should add that the various drafts of the Bill have benefited from review by the Judiciary, who have considered it as part of the work of the interim judicial council which has been established pending the Bill’s enactment.

Finally, with specific reference to the Bangalore Principles of Judicial Conduct, those principles enshrine key values relating to independence, impartiality, integrity, propriety, equality, competence and diligence which, in many ways, are self-evident characteristics of a properly functioning judicial system. It is to be anticipated that any future guidelines concerning judicial conduct and ethics will be reflective of those principles. This would not be surprising since the Government would have every confidence that judicial conduct, at present, accords with these principles and, indeed, the Government would not support any implication that values such as independence and integrity are not intrinsic to the way in which our courts operate. I believe the Senator would agree with that.