Helen McEntee to seek approval for overhaul of judicial appointments

Justice Minister Helen McEntee has repeatedly called for the judicial appointments system to be made more transparent. Picture: Julien Behal Photography

Justice Minister Helen McEntee is to seek approval to overhaul the appointment of judges.

Ms McEntee will today publish the general scheme of the Judicial Appointments Commission Bill, subject to Cabinet approval.

The method of choosing judges has been a source of controversy for the Government in recent months after former attorney general and long-time Fine Gael member Séamus Woulfe was appointed to the Supreme Court.

Ms McEntee has repeatedly said the process for appointments to the judiciary needed to be overhauled, and aims to make it more streamlined and transparent.

Currently, serving members of the judiciary lodge expressions of interest with the Government if they are interested in promotion to a judicial vacancy, usually to the attorney general's office, which caused much of the opposition to Mr Woulfe's appointment.

Those who are not judges must apply to the Judicial Appointments Advisory Board, which assesses their suitability for judicial appointment.

The Judicial Appointments Commission will replace both of these processes and provide one route by which candidates for judicial appointment can be assessed and forwarded to the Government.

It will include a 4-4 equal legal and lay representation for voting purposes, made up of the Chief Justice, who will chair the commission; the relevant court president required for individual appointments (the president of the High Court for a High Court appointment, for example); one serving judge, who was a solicitor at the time of their appointment as a judge; and one serving judge, who was a barrister at the time of their appointment as a judge, both of whom will be nominated by the Judicial Council.

Three lay members will be selected through open competition by the Public Appointments Service, with one lay member nominated by the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission. The attorney general will act as an ex-officio member (non-voting).