Committee may view Curtin case evidence

EVIDENCE deemed inadmissible in Judge Brian Curtin’s collapsed court case may be viewed by the committee examining his impeachment.

The evidence was obtained with an out-of-date search warrant used by gardaí, resulting in the case being dismissed last month and the Circuit Court judge being acquitted.

Yesterday emergency laws required for the impeachment of Judge Curtin passed through both Houses of the Oireachtas. The first piece of legislation was to ensure the judge can definitely be compelled to appear before an Oireachtas committee.

The second piece of legislation is to allow committee members to handle pornographic material without breaking the law.

The committee, to be chaired by Fianna Fáil TD Denis O’Donovan, is likely to be set up next week, but may not start work until after the local and European elections on June 11.

Junior Justice Minister Brian Lenihan said the same rules do not apply as in the courts, so the evidence may be admissible in the forthcoming investigation. “Neither Houses of the Oireachtas nor the committees are courts of law. Neither do they act necessarily on the standards of proof that obtain in courts of law.”

As the legislation passed through the Oireachtas yesterday, opposition parties raised concerns about the speed with which the two bills were handled.

Fine Gael deputy leader Richard Bruton sought guarantees from the Government that the new laws were robust and would not be vulnerable to legal challenge as it was important that the Oireachtas got the process right, irrespective of the speed.

Also expressing reservations, Labour TD Ruairi Quinn said his party was prepared to support the legislation as long as the Government proceeded with new laws to cover judicial conduct and ethics later this year. “Rushed legislation is invariably bad legislation and nothing can be more rushed than what we are doing here today.”

Proof of Mr Quinn’s assertion came when he pointed that Labour showed the Government a flaw in the proposed legislation. The law originally only referred to impeachment proceedings under the Constitution and not to additional legislation which brought the process along to judges of the Circuit Court.

If the mistake had not been spotted, the legislation would have been null and void, he said.

Green Party leader Trevor Sargent suggested the process of judicial appointments should also be examined closely to avoid the present scenario recurring.

While Tánaiste Mary Harney said the Attorney General was satisfied the legislation was sound, she said there were no absolute guarantees against potential legal challenges.