Process to appoint top judge has 'same problems' as before

Issues around judicial appointments were highlighted recently in the process whereby former Attorney General Seamus Woulfe was appointed to the Supreme Court.

The Department of Justice has issued a notice seeking applications to become the new president of the district court, which has become vacant since the appointment of Judge Colin Daly to the circuit court last Christmas. File picture: iStock

The process of appointing the new president of the district court suffers from the “same problems” as previous judicial appointments and will come ahead of the long-planned reform of the process, a leading legal expert has said.

The Department of Justice has issued a notice seeking applications to the position, which has become vacant since the appointment of Judge Colin Daly to the circuit court last Christmas.

A non-statutory advisory committee has been established to invite and consider expressions of interest for the position and to make recommendations to the Government.

Judicial appointments have long been a contentious issue, highlighted most recently in the process whereby former Attorney General Seamus Woulfe was appointed to the Supreme Court.

Renewed government attempts to reform the process resulted in the publication last December of the draft Judicial Appointments Commission Bill.

This replaces the 2017 Judicial Appointments Commission Bill, introduced by then-minister Shane Ross, and, among other things, envisages the creation of a new Judicial Appointments Commission.

The three-person advisory committee tasked with the process of the current appointment comprises of High Court Justice Michael White, Jane Williams of Sia Partners, and Attorney General Paul Gallagher.

Commenting, senior lecturer in Law at University of Limerick Dr Laura Cahillane said: “Obviously the same problems arise as those generally in judicial appointments.

For example, lack of interviews or other assessment, lack of appropriate competencies and qualification criteria, the involvement of the AG in the process, the lack of transparency regarding what happens when names are sent forward to Government, etc.

She said she hopes this will be addressed by the new bill, adding: “Unfortunately, all we have received so far are the heads of that bill, so we don’t have a lot of detail yet on what exactly is intended.” 

She pointed out that while the new commission will make recommendations to the Government, the executive still retains total discretion to appoint any candidate it chooses.

The time scale for implementation of the new bill is unclear. It is due to go for pre-legislative scrutiny, following the insistence of the Oireachtas justice committee, in the coming weeks.

Submissions for the district court president, to be sent to the assistant secretary to the Government Dermot Woods, close on February 12.