Michael McDowell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I want to raise the question of the appointment of judges. We have an increasing number of judicial vacancies and it would appear the legislation which was the subject of some pre-publicity has not materialised. The court system is becoming increasingly overburdened due to the absence of judges and, most importantly, the outlook is very poor.

The role of the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport on legislation on the appointment of judges is causing grave concern, because more and more the line is being taken that somehow our present Judiciary is failing the country, is not of adequate quality, needs to be changed and is the product of cronyism. The Constitution gives to the Executive of the State the right to nominate people to be appointed as judges in our courts. This is an important function for the Government. Nobody in his or her right mind thinks this can be abdicated without a change to the Constitution. It is a function of the Government and the responsibility of the Government. The choice of people for appointment to the Judiciary is a governmental decision.

It is also sometimes stated appointments should not be political. If this means party political I agree completely, but if it means political in the other sense I disagree fundamentally. The persons put on the Supreme Court are chosen for their outlook, their ideology, and by reference to a number of issues which are political in another sense. It is to the Government of the day the function of making nominations falls.

In the United States of America we can see that a highly party-politicised appointments system to the Judiciary exists, but nobody thinks Ruth Ginsburg, for instance, was appointed to the US Supreme Court other than on the basis she was a legal liberal. It was the entitlement of the US President to make an appointment in this respect.