Delaying any reform is not acceptable - Judge criticises Government

IT may be an over-reaction to say that Chief Justice Susan Denham’s attack on the Government over its failure to establish a judicial council is seismic. 

Nevertheless, such a straight-between-the-eyes challenge from one of the apex figureheads of the Irish establishment must touch a Leinster House nerve or two. The criticism also points to the all but unshakeable inertia surrounding institutional reform in this society. The council was — or is — intended to protect judicial independence and have oversight of the judiciary’s relationship with other arms of government.

Though not directly connected to Ms Denham’s criticism the Legal Services Regulation Bill stands as irrefutable testimony to why institutional reform is so very difficult. After successful lobbying of Government by the Bar Council and Law Society more than 100 amendments were made to Alan Shatter’s draft. The legislation ultimately fell well short of the urgent objectives outlined by the troika when it pointed to impediments to a more modern, efficient way of conducting our affairs. Very specific sectional interests prevailed in that instance and were protected from the crude, tooth-and-claw leveller we all recognise as competition.