Rónán Mullen (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Touching somewhat on what was said about the rule of law a few moments ago, the Minister for Justice is proposing that there would be a judicial appointments commission comprising nine members, one of whom would come from the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, IHREC. He or she would be one of the lay members. That might seem like a good idea but I am afraid it only seems so. Judges have a duty to be impartial. The time honoured principle is not just that they are impartial but that they must be seen to be so. We have seen ferment in Ireland in the context of Mr. Justice Woulfe's appointment but even more obviously in America, where politicians probe and predict which way judges might go on important issues if they are appointed.

The IHREC, in respect of an issue that people have different views on, namely the marriage equality referendum, claimed that it was a human right. This was despite a European Court of Human Rights decision in Hämäläinenv. Finland which said that member states were not under an obligation to legislate. That is just one example of a political agenda creeping into a judgment about the state of law. The commission has also done it on gender equality. When it was before the Citizen's Assembly, it talked about the need to generate political momentum. I have no issue with the right or the role of the IHREC in doing that kind of thing but when it comes to appointing judges, there must be clear blue water. We do not want a situation in the future where a plaintiff or a defendant is saying that judge X or Y was appointed by a commission, which included people who might be judging people on their political agenda as opposed to their fitness for the job. It is all about perception. Politics has to be kept as far away as possible from the appointment of members of the Judiciary. The proposed legislation will be presented to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice for pre-legislative scrutiny, which I welcome, and this particular mistake will need to be ironed out.