The new body for regulating the legal profession will not be independent of Government, and the removal of one of its members would be very difficult to judicially review, according to the former chief justice.
Mr Justice Ronan Keane was speaking at a conference on the independence of the legal profession today. The event was also addressed by the leaders of the International Bar Association, the American Bar Association and the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe.
He said the manner of setting up the new regulatory authority, the remuneration of its members and the basis for their removal were the criteria for examining its independence. “It is not enough to say it is independent,” he said. “You must ensure that by the method of appointment, the level of remuneration and the method of dismissal.”
He said the basis for the Government removing a member of the authority, which included if it considered it “necessary for the effective running of the authority”, was so vague it was impossible to see how a court could exercise its judicial review power if such a removal was challenged.
The basis on which the Government’s seven nominees were to be appointed was “extraordinarily vague”, he said.
Referring to the Minister for Justice’s response to criticism saying that the judiciary were independent despite being appointed by the Government, Mr Justice Keane said: “I could not imagine a more inappropriate comparison.”
“First we have the Judicial Appointments Commission, though it is my personal view that its powers are insufficient. But judges are not removable during their tenure except by resolution of both Houses of the Oireachtas and for stated misbehaviour. I can’t imagine a greater contrast [with the proposed authority].
“The members of the proposed authority can be reappointed for a second term of four years which is itself a cause for concern. The European Court of Human Rights recently amended its rules so that judges can only serve on it for one term because of the fear they would be unduly influenced by the government appointing them.”