The Association of Garda Chief Superintendents (AGCS) has expressed "surprise" at the criticism of the judiciary by the Garda Representative Association.
Chief Supt Tom Monaghan, chairman of the AGCS, said that the independence of the judiciary was "something to be valued", and judges must have the full support of the gardaí at all levels.
"Unexpected media publicity is not helpful," Chief Supt Monaghan said in Galway yesterday. He was responding to comments made by the outgoing GRA president, Mr Michael Kirby, at his association's annual conference in Bundoran, Co Donegal, this week.
Mr Kirby told his conference that some of his members had to endure "over-the-top criticisms from a minority of judges" who "seem to delight in embarrassing and humiliating them in open court, often in full view of a delighted audience of criminals".
He was reported as stating: "What do you think that does for morale? And to whom are these privileged elite answerable? Effectively, no one."
Chief Supt Monaghan said that the judiciary formed one of the three pillars of the Constitution, and this had been so since the foundation of the State. The relationship between the Garda Síochána and the judiciary had always been good, he said.
"They (judges) more than any others know the difficulties faced by the gardaí on a daily basis, and without them the gardaí could not function. Like the gardaí, they form a cornerstone of the criminal justice system, and they have served, and continue to serve, this country well.
"If there are individuals, or individual cases, that have caused problems, then the appropriate thing to do is to raise it with the president of the particular court in the first instance," he added.