Judge Curtin case - Oireachtas probe is the best process

It was important that the High Court yesterday cleared the way for the issue of Judge Brian Curtin to be considered by the Oireachtas inquiry.

Whether or not he appeals to the Supreme Court is a matter for him and his legal advisers, but the lower court had absolutely no misgivings in arriving at its categorical decision.

Judge Curtin failed on all grounds submitted to the court in his challenge to the committee and the procedures established by the Oireachtas to investigate his alleged misbehaviour.

In a judgment that took him five hours to deliver, Mr Justice Thomas Smyth went to the heart of the issue: public confidence. He said he was satisfied that the procedures put in place were necessary for the preservation of public confidence in the justice system and were not an attack on the independence of the judiciary.

Yesterday’s High Court decision allows the Oireachtas inquiry to resume and that follows on a motion proposed by Justice Minister Michael McDowell for the removal of the judge from office.

It arises from circumstances which led to his court appearance last year on a charge of possessing child pornography and his subsequent acquittal.

The collapse of that case because of a defective warrant used to search the judge’s house gave rise to further public disquiet and concern surrounding the manner of the handling of such a delicate case by the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Given the extraordinary sequence of events involving the search of the judge’s house and the subsequent use of a useless warrant, the Government was presented with an impossible dilemma.

It pursued the only reasonable option open to it in the face of public concern that Judge Curtin might remain on the bench, or that he receive a multi-million euro settlement.

The inquiry is preliminary to the proposed impeachment process by the Oireachtas to remove the circuit court judge, which would be an unprecedented move.

In adopting the attitude it did, the Government reflected the wishes, and more importantly, the worries of the majority of reasonable people in this country.