My Lord, it’s finally time to slay the sacred cow of the judiciary

ALONG with the Presidential election, a referendum will be held on the right of the Dáil to determine judicial pay levels. Despite private howls of protest and refusal to voluntarily accept the pension levy by some judges, it is certain that a massive majority of the electorate will endorse this limitation on the independence of the judiciary.

We should use the context of that debate to fundamentally review accountability, effectiveness and efficiency of our court system and judges.

A decade of procrastination has seen successive governments grapple with two age old legal Latin idioms (as translated): “You cannot be a judge in your own cause” and “Who guards the guards?” To date, we have relied on integrity of the judiciary to be sufficient supervision of themselves. Chief Justice Mr John Murray retires this week. Apparently, there is a two-year shortfall of service on his entitlement to a full pension, even though he’s a former Attorney General. So he is due to stay on the Supreme Court bench while relinquishing the top job. Serious questions have to be raised about his performance as ultimate CEO of Irish magistrates. He has to take overall responsibility for the pyramid structure of our courts’ system.