Judge tries to halt probe into computer child porn

Judge Brian Curtin began a court battle today to prevent an Oireachtas committee investigation into the discovery of child pornography on his home computer.

The Circuit Court judge was acquitted last April on charges of possessing child pornography after the Garda warrant used to search his house was found to be out of date.

At the High Court, senior council John Rodgers, representing Curtin, said the investigative procedures of the Oireachtais committee, which were set up after Judge Curtin’s acquittal, were fundamentally flawed.

He said there were no legal powers to judge the validity of evidence or to make recommendation.

“This committee is precluded from making a finding of fact,” he said.

Mr Rodgers said that if the House of the Oireachtais attempted to remove Judge Curtin for stated misbehaviour under Article 34.5 of the Constitution, it would be doing so without any proven facts.

“The House of the Oireachtais are making a decision on what may well be disputed evidence, or evidence which is capable of a number of different interpretations,” he said.

The Oireachtais Committee, chaired by Fianna Fáil TD Dennis O’Donovan, was set up last summer after the government passed a motion to remove Judge Curtin for stated misbehaviour.

Judge Curtin is seeking leave in the High Courts for a judicial review to challenge the power of the committee to investigate him.

Mr Rodgers said the only way to provide a fair hearing was for the charges against Judge Curtin to be put forward in one of the Houses of the Oireachtas and then to vote for a removal in the other.

Judge Smyth said he was satisfied that Judge Curtin’s lawyers had made a proper case.

He granted them leave to apply for a judicial review and placed a stay on the work of the Oireachtais committee investigating Judge Curtin.

Judge Smyth said it was imperative that the separation of powers in the Irish constitution which ensured the independence of the judiciary is jealously guarded.

He added that this was not for the protection of judges but so the public could have confidence in the actions of judges.

“A judge personally is entitled no more and no less to the protection of the constitution than any other citizen,” he said.

He said he was mindful of the need to expedite the process given the wishes of the Oireachtais committee as well as the public nature of the controversy surrounding the case.

He ordered both parties to prepare their grounds for the judicial review before January 7 and to appear again in the High Court on January 11.