Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
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1432.To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the mechanisms in place for complaints against judges. [31055/24]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware, the Judicial Council was established on 17th December 2019 as an independent body. Its members are all of the judges in Ireland, who are a separate and independent branch of Government under the Constitution. As Minister, I have no role in relation to the operation of the Judicial Council or its Committees.

Section 7 of the Judicial Council Act, 2019 sets out the role of the Judicial Council which is to promote judicial excellence and a high standard of conduct among Judges as well as to ensure judicial independence to upkeep public confidence in the administration of justice.

Part 5 of the Judicial Council Act concerns the establishment of the Judicial Conduct Committee, whose role it is to promote and maintain high standards of conduct among judges.

In 2022, the Judicial Conduct Committee, published Guidelines on Judicial Conduct and Ethics, which were subsequently adopted by the whole Judicial Council and now apply to all judges in the Irish justice system. The guidelines are a set of principles designed to enable judges to come to their own decisions on the ethical and conduct issues which they face and to help the public understand the role of the judiciary and their professional standards.

The principles contained in the guidelines include judicial independence, impartiality, integrity, propriety (including the appearance of propriety), competence and diligence and to ensure equality of treatment to all persons before the courts. In addition to their function in promoting the highest standards of judicial behaviour, and in assisting judges to make their own decisions on matters of ethics and conduct, the guidelines also provide a framework for the judicial conduct review function of the Judicial Council which is exercised by the Judicial Conduct Committee.

On the 3rd of October 2022, I signed the commencement order, which brings into operation the Act’s remaining provisions in relation to judicial conduct and ethics. This means that any complaints about the conduct of a judge that is alleged to constitute judicial misconduct will be addressed under the procedures by the Judicial Conduct Committee.

Further details on how to make a complaint to the Judicial Conduct Committee and the details around the procedure can be found on the Judicial Council’s website