Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister. I apologise for being slightly late. Senator Conway was to deal with this matter and he was delayed so I apologise on his behalf also. I welcome that the Minister has brought forward this Bill. Like my colleagues, I would also set out that over the past 90 years the Judiciary has served us well and has enjoyed total independence from the Oireachtas and the Government of the day. It has arrived at very fair decisions in its dealing with the public, whether in family law, criminal law or in any other area. There are times when we need to look and see what changes need to be brought about. The Minister has come forward with the Bill, setting out what those changes should be.

Regarding the courts system, there are checks and balances in our Constitution, in that the Government can be held to account through the courts system. Likewise, within the courts there are various appeals processes, whereby in the lower courts one can appeal from the District Court to the Circuit Court, cases initially tried in the Circuit Court can be appealed to the High Court on circuit, and matters in the High Court can go to the Court of Appeal. We introduced amending legislation in this regard in recent years.

The judicial council is something that, as Senator McDowell has outlined, has been sought by the Judiciary for some time. It is welcome that we are bringing it forward. I agree with Senator McDowell on the Judicial Appointments Advisory Board. I am just concerned about the cost of it, in particular when I look back over the years regarding the fair and appropriate manner people have been appointed to the Bench, no matter who has been in government. As I have said, all of the judges down through the years have served us well and have enjoyed that independence without interference from the Government.

I have a concern about the complaints procedure as set out in the Bill. I believe there need to be checks and balances. Whether a case is about a dispute between neighbours or family law, no one will be totally satisfied.I recently spoke to a colleague about a family law case that has gone on for over 16 years in which a lay litigant has used all sorts of mechanisms within the court system to prolong a matter. Every member of the Judiciary operated in a very fair and appropriate manner and gave considerable leeway to the lay litigant. The problem is that the process has now taken a long time to deal with. That is because the judges felt they needed to give that space to the lay litigant. It is about having checks and balances. Nobody could complain about any of the decisions, but the problem for the person on the other side was that delay in the process. The members of the Judiciary are very concerned that a matter coming before the courts is dealt with in a speedy and timely manner. A decision needs to be reached and it should not be allowed to drag on ad infinitum.

The Court of Appeal was put in place due to a delay of over four years in having matters dealt with in the Supreme Court. I understand that a list is now building up in the Court of Appeal, which removes one of the advantages of setting it up. Hopefully that will also resolve itself.

Overall the Bill is welcome. The issue regarding the Judicial Appointments Advisory Board should be reconsidered. While going through the Bill in this House or in the Dáil, serious consideration should be given to that issue. Why do we need to introduce it at this stage given that there will be a cost factor? If the process that has been there for some time needs to be strengthened, so be it. I am not clear if we need to introduce the amendments that are now proposed.

I thank the Minister for introducing the Bill. I thank the Department of Justice and Equality officials for their work. Careful consideration should be given to the amendments.