Lynn Ruane (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Bill to the Seanad and express my broad support for the equality and diversity principles that underpin it. The role that judges play in our democracy is important and their contribution is valuable. Therefore, who they are, how we select them and the criteria and system we use to do so is equally important. This Bill will substantially reform the system by which we appoint judges and create a new body that will be responsible for recommending these appointments. At its core, it seeks to diversify, decentralise and depoliticise the process by which members of the Judiciary come to office, which is welcome. It seek to take the politics out of judicial selection, and has the welcome aim that "the membership of the Judiciary should reflect the diversity within the population as a whole". I strongly believe that a more diverse Judiciary that is better representative of society it presides over is a worthy objective, and I welcome the clear articulation of this aim.

I welcome the provision that appointments to judicial office shall be based on merit under this Bill, and that gender equality and socioeconomic diversity are explicitly mentioned as key objectives. I welcome the provision that a majority of the commission will be made up of lay people led by a lay chair. I welcome the clear criteria for judicial candidates, the transparency of the selection process and the relative independence from political considerations enshrined in the Bill. It is clear the major and substantive change from our current system under the JAAB is the inclusion of a majority of lay people in the process. The main way in which the depoliticisation of the process is intended to occur is the introduction of views from outside the current legal and political circles to judicial selection by bringing lay people into the process in the new commission. However, this has the practical consequence that who these lay people are and how they are chosen is important, as they are the engine and method by which the aims of the Bill will be achieved.

There is a significant responsibility on these lay people. Considerable importance attaches to their structural role in the process, the qualities they possess, their experiences and their knowledge competencies, as they are crucial for the success of the Bill. In light of the important and crucial role they will play, I am, therefore, concerned with the Bill's current provisions relating to lay membership of the commission and the criteria used by the PAS in selecting them. The current provisions will not reflect a sea change from our current process, or will result in a drastically different cohort of judges being selected and nominated. The lay person selection criteria under section 12 would largely reflect areas of expertise in which there are high levels of knowledge among our current cohort of judges and the system that selects them. Why, for example, are commerce and finance explicitly mentioned over broader socioeconomic issues such as addiction, homelessness or penal reform issues? If the lay people are the mechanism by which the views of those inside the current political and legal circles will be represented in the new system, the criteria for how they are chosen should capture a broader range of individuals and experiences in society, rather than just top-level abstract concepts or certain sectors arbitrarily selected over others.If lay people chosen under the provisions of this Bill are not drawn from a large pool outside the usual suspects and meet diverse criteria this Bill will only take away jobs for one group of boys and give them to another group. If we truly want people from outside current legal practice to apply, be selected and contribute to choosing a more diverse slate of judges we need to do better and I hope the further development of criteria in section 12 and additional detail in respect of lay persons in section 10 is an issue we could work on as we move towards Committee Stage.

To further focus on the diversity provisions of the Bill, I welcome that in section 56 the commission's procedures committee will be given responsibility for monitoring the diversity of judicial candidates in subsection (1) and procedures and processes for developing and strengthening diversity in subsection (4). This is a very welcome provision but I would like to see more detail. How are we defining diversity for the purpose of this section? My concern is whether a broad and generous understanding of diversity is accounted for under this Bill. What metrics do we use when we measure diversity? I would like to see explicit mention in this section of a role for the procedures committee in identifying under-representation of specific groups in the Judiciary compared to their prevalence in wider society, the groups and communities that need to be targeted, measures such as quotas and applicant number targets and targeted measures to improve their representation, such as information campaigns and training. Let us agree what we mean by diversity in our Judiciary. How best can we rectify this under-representation and give the aim of ensuring diversity some real teeth in the Bill? I hope we can work on this issue on Committee Stage.

I welcome the new strong protections introduced in the Dáil for the Irish language in the Bill but has the Minister considered similar protections for Irish sign language in light of the recent passage of the Irish Sign Language Act 2017 and the fact that Irish sign language, ISL, can now be used in legal proceedings by deaf citizens throughout the State? It would be a strong sign of the State's efforts to vindicate the equality of our deaf citizens if proficiency in ISL would be recognised in the Bill as a valuable quality for a judge to possess.