Time to overhaul dysfunctional judicial system

APROPOS the latest scandal of the AIB bonuses, how many times have we heard government excuses saying they were hampered by contractual or legal constraints when dealing with pay and conditions of the untouchables and the insiders?

The bankers who destroyed our economy have gone to blissful retirement with obscene golden handshakes and pensions and are, apparently untouchable. Similarly, senior failed public servants have received outrageous payoffs and pensions and are also untouchable. By contrast, the Government has no such constraints when slashing incomes for those most vulnerable in society. The Government has it within its power simply to introduce emergency legislation to retrospectively claw back some or all of these payments and confiscate the pensions and any other assets.

It is clear to everyone, more than two years after the banking failures emerged, that none of these people will face any consequences under the protection of a dysfunctional judicial system. The old adage that the law is an ass is certainly true today and it is a barrier to achieving a just society for all citizens. It beggars believe that in a small country, now broken, that many barristers, lawyers and solicitors have achieved multimillionaire status on the backs of the broken taxpayer. There is a strong argument for the temporary suspension and complete overhaul of our outdated Constitution to drag our unfair, archaic and grossly inefficient legal system into the modern world. It must and should be accessible and affordable to all, not just to protect insiders and the wealthy.