AN INTERIM judicial council will be established within two weeks, following a decision yesterday of the national conference of the judiciary.
It agreed to a proposal from the Chief Justice, Mrs Justice Susan Denham, to set up an interim council to deal with standards, education, ethical and representative issues, pending the enactment of promised legislation next year.
The interim council would contain several aspects of the proposed judicial council as outlined in the heads of a judicial council Bill published by the last government in August 2010, and help establish a full judicial council when the enabling legislation is passed. The setting up of a judicial conduct committee will follow the enactment of the legislation.
“It is of critical importance that there is a formal institution to represent the judiciary, within which issues fundamental to the judiciary may be addressed and from which there can be deliberations, study and publications on relevant judicial matters,” Mrs Justice Denham said.
After the conference, she said: “Ireland has not developed the institutions and systems which have been organised in other states to support the independence of the judiciary, to support the third branch of government.
“This first step today in establishing an interim judicial council will initiate a process which will provide a modern infrastructure for the judiciary to work within, learn within, set standards within, have a voice from, and within which to address issues of ethics and standards. When the required recording equipment is available in every court, and the legislation is enacted, the full extent of the proposed work . . . can begin.”
The council will be made up of all judges. It will have a board consisting of the president of each court jurisdiction (Supreme, High, Circuit and District), an elected representative of each jurisdiction and a judge co-opted by the board.
It is hoped the board of the new interim judicial council will be established and meet in the next fortnight, according to the Chief Justice. It will be housed in the historic Green Street courthouse.
The board is empowered to establish committees during the interim period. Among the likely committees is one which will draw up draft ethical guidelines which would be considered by the council when it is established on a statutory basis. They will also provide the benchmark against which complaints against judges will be examined.
Meanwhile, the existing Committee for Judicial Studies, which organises educational conferences for judges and publishes a judicial studies journal, will become part of the interim judicial council.
A judicial conduct committee, including lay members, to deal with complaints against judges, is envisaged in the previously published draft heads of a Bill. A conference of the judiciary in May 2010 agreed with such a proposal, provided there was digital audio recording in all courts.
The Courts Service said yesterday: “The rollout of the digital audio recording equipment has been successfully installed in 160 courtrooms, a further 20 will be completed by the end of this year and it is hoped the remaining courtrooms can be completed in the coming year.”
Minister for Justice Alan Shatter welcomed the decision by the judiciary itself to establish a judicial council on an interim basis.