Seanad debates

Wednesday, 4 July 2018

Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed)

 

10:30 am

Photo of Ivana BacikIvana Bacik (Independent) | Oireachtas source

The substantive amendment I have in this grouping is amendment No. 14 which is similar to that of Senator Lorraine Clifford-Lee, amendment No. 13, in that it seeks to address the question of the composition of the judicial appointments commission. Our amendment is slightly different from the Senator's. Like hers, it has the advantage of being coherent in terms of numbers, unlike the current provision we are debating, section 10, which has come to us from the Dáil in an incoherent manner, with inconsistency in terms of numbers, which is unfortunate. Many of the amendments in this grouping, or at least some of the Government ones, are seeking to address it.

Our amendment is coherent. It provides that the commission would consist of 12 members, being the Chief Justice, who would be the chairperson of the commission, a number of other judges and seven non-judicial members. It sets out who would nominate each of them. It also takes into account the need for a gender balance. According to subsection (2), each body that makes nominations shall nominate both a man and a woman for appointment by the Government. Subsection (3) states, "In appointing members of the Commission, the Government shall have regard to the objective that no fewer than 5 members should be women and no fewer than 5 members should be men". We have tried to put forward a coherent and clear outline of the preferable composition of a judicial appointments commission and also sought in our provision to have regard for the need for a gender balance on the commission. We will certainly be pressing the amendment. I do not expect the Minister to indicate that he will be accepting it. It may well be that the amendment in the name of Senator Lorraine Clifford-Lee will be pressed before ours. It is very much in a similar tone. To be fair, our amendment also draws on the provisions put forward in the other House by Deputy Jim O'Callaghan who proposed a similar composition for the commission. We supported it, in principle.

The other amendments we have in this grouping are amendments Nos. 58, 60, 62 and 64 which are more procedural in nature. Amendment No. 14, however, is very much substantive and goes to the heart of the debate we have been having on the Bill and the issues we have been discussing about how best to ensure positive reform of the judicial appointments system that will result in a system that is effective in delivering a robust and independent Judiciary.

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